Danny Masterson’s request for bail while he appeals his sentence has been rejected after a judge ruled he was a flight risk because he ‘has no wife to go home to’.
The That ’70s Show star was sentenced on September 7 to 30 years to life with the possibility of parole for two counts of rape by force, violence or fear of bodily harm and is being held at North Kern State Prison.
After his conviction, it was reported that he was under 24-hour supervision in case he showed signs of ‘mental distress’.
Officers visited his cell every half hour to check on him ‘with the aim of monitoring his mental state and ensuring he was safe’.
Now Masterson’s bail application has been rejected. An appeal against his conviction is pending.
The That ’70s Show star was sentenced on September 7 to 30 years to life with the possibility of parole for two counts of rape by force, violence or fear of bodily harm and is being held at North Kern State Prison
Danny Masterson is seen in court during his sentencing hearing
Danny Masterson arrives in court on May 16, 2023 at the Los Angeles Superior Courthouse
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo said Masterson “will likely remain in custody for decades, and perhaps for the rest of his life” if his sentence is upheld on appeal.
Olmedo, who oversaw his trial, said he is a flight risk.
This is partly due to his ex-wife Bijou Phillips filed for divorce after twelve years of marriage, following his guilty plea last year.
The order read: “In light of the fact that the suspect has no wife to go home to, the suspect now has every incentive to flee and little incentive to return to state prison to serve out the remainder of his lengthy sentence to sit if his appeal is unsuccessful. ‘
It comes after Masterson’s lawyers Clifford Gardner and Eric Multhaup wrote a motion on January 17 asking the court to grant the disgraced actor bail.
Their motion read: “Defendant requests that the Court grant bail on appeal, and offers to comply with all relevant conditions imposed by the Court that enable him to be a stay-at-home parent and financial provider for his family, including house arrest and/or participation in an electronic monitoring program administered by the probation department.”
A jury found the actor guilty in May of two rapes committed in 2003 and he was hanged on a third rape charge, which prosecutors have said they will not pursue further for a conviction.
During the lawsuit, Jane Doe called Masterson a “true coward and heartless monster,” adding that to this day she suffers from an extreme fear of the dark and often wakes up crying.
Sometimes, she said, she hides in a closet or screams out the window, “I’m not okay.”
“I think life in prison is an appropriate sentence,” she said.
Danny Masterson, 47, is pictured in a mugshot after being transferred to state prison to serve his 30 years to life sentence
The former That 70s Show star agreed to give Phillips both legal and physical custody of the couple’s daughter while he is in prison
The woman continued to tell the room that she was born into a family of Scientologists, and when she reported the rape to the church, a top official “made it clear that Danny was untouchable.”
“I didn’t choose to be born into Scientology — and I didn’t choose to be raped by Danny Masterson,” the mother of three daughters said, fighting back tears. “Scientology tried to silence us… to intimidate us.”
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo said Masterson “will likely remain in custody for decades, and perhaps for the rest of his life” if his sentence is upheld on appeal
Of the two women for whose rape Masterson was convicted, Jane Doe 1 testified that she was at the actor’s home in April 2003, where he gave her a fruity red drink with vodka that made her feel dizzy, then threw her into his jacuzzi and carried her. upstairs where she passed out and woke up to see him raping her
She fought back and shoved a pillow in his face, she told the jury. But he shoved it back in her face, choking her and causing her to black out again.
When she woke up, she said, Masterson opened a drawer next to the bed and pulled out a gun, which he brandished as he told her, “Don’t move.”
Jane Doe 2 – whose actor was also convicted of rape – met Masterson at a bar in 2003 and gave him her phone number. He called her and invited her to his house.
She went, and after having a drink and sitting in his jacuzzi, she found herself in the bathroom shower with him where, she told jurors, he “suddenly pushed his penis into her vagina… She said no, I said no. sex.’
Masterson arrives at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles with wife Bijou Phillips for his trial on May 31, 2023
They ended up in Masterson’s bed where, despite her protests, he turned her over and started hitting her from behind “like a jackhammer,” she testified, adding that she felt “like a limp rag doll.”
At the sentencing, Jane Doe 2 said: ‘You are pathetic, deranged and extremely violent and the world is a safer place with you in prison.’
Jane Doe 3 — whom Masterson was accused but not convicted of rape — lived with Masterson for six years. She was just 17 when she met him and he convinced her to become a Scientologist, she told the court.
About a year into their relationship, he became very “controlling… and sexually aggressive” – she would often wake up at night and he would sit on top of her and have sex with her, she said.
In one such incident in November 2001, when she woke up to see him having sex with her, she told him no and tried to push him away, the court heard.
When that didn’t work, she pulled his hair. But he retaliated by punching her in the face and calling her “white trash,” she told the jury.
After his conviction, Masterson was expelled from the Church of Scientology and declared a “suppressive person” – or “SP” – which the church defines as someone whose behavior seeks to hinder the spiritual progress of those around him.