Disgraced Actor Fights 30-Year Rape Sentence, Alleges Unfair Trial

In November 2025, Danny Masterson, the former That '70s Show actor, is fighting to overturn his 2023 conviction on two counts of rape, which resulted in a 30-years-to-life prison sentence. Masterson's attorney, Eric S. Multhaup, has filed a lengthy motion alleging that the trial was unfair due to "prosecutorial misconduct, judicial bias, and the failure of defense counsel to present exculpatory evidence."

Masterson was charged with three counts of rape in 2020, with three women accusing him of drugging and sexually assaulting them between 2001 and 2003. While a jury deadlocked in his initial 2022 trial, Masterson was convicted on two of the three counts in a 2023 retrial. The petition claims the prosecution's "excessive entanglement" with Leah Remini, a high-profile former Scientologist, may have introduced anti-Scientology bias that influenced the jury.

Multhaup argues that Masterson's previous defense attorney, Phillip Cohen, "squandered a mountain of exculpatory evidence" and failed to call witnesses who could have helped clear the actor's name. The petition seeks a new trial where the jury can hear Masterson's side of the story.