Danny Masterson Blames Attorney for Rape Convictions as He Seeks Overturn

Danny Masterson is pushing to overturn his rape convictions, claiming in new legal filings that a series of alleged missteps by his former attorney that cost him his freedom.

On Monday, attorney Eric Multhaup filed a 183-page habeas corpus petition arguing that Masterson’s retrial was flawed. 

In court documents , Multhaup claimed a combination of alleged prosecutorial misconduct, judicial bias, and the failure of defense counsel to present exculpatory evidence led to a wrongful conviction.

‘The habeas corpus petition is accompanied by 65 exhibits that document the evidence of innocence that could have been presented, but was not. The jury heard only half the story – the prosecution’s side. Danny deserves a new trial where the jury can hear his side as well,’ Multhaup said in a statement on his website.

Masterson, 48, is currently serving 30 years to life after being convicted of raping two women in 2003 – allegations he denies, insisting the encounters were consensual.

The That 70s Show star alleges in the petition that significant errors began even before his case went to trial. 

Masterson was previously represented by Philip Cohen and Shawn Holley, the latter of whom was simultaneously representing former Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer in a separate sexual assault matter.

A request to push back Masterson’s trial to accommodate Holley’s schedule was denied.

According to the filing, Masterson became increasingly agitated with Cohen’s strategy, and now argues Cohen failed to call witnesses who allegedly could have supported his version of events. 

Multhaup claims in the court records that several friends of the accusers were prepared to testify that the women described the encounters as consensual.

Masterson’s petition further alleges Cohen did not sufficiently challenge the prosecution’s narrative that each woman became disoriented and nauseated after drinking alcohol provided by Masterson. 

At trial, Cohen pointed out, on multiple occasions, that prosecutors presented no forensic evidence that the women were drugged. 

But Multhaup’s court filing claims the attorney failed Masterson by not mounting a full ‘affirmative defense,’ which he says would have included a plethora of evidence pointing toward consensual sex. 

The Daily Mail has reached out to Cohen and Holley, but has not heard back, at this time. 

Another key part of Masterson’s petition focuses on Scientology, which prosecutors argued played a role in discouraging the women from reporting him – an assertion Masterson and church representatives deny.

Multhaup claims in the petition that Cohen failed to call a Scientology member to rebut the prosecution’s expert witness, who testified that church teachings would have discouraged the women from reporting Masterson to police. 

The Church of Scientology has denied these allegations.

Judge Charlaine Olmedo, who presided over the retrial, previously ruled that evidence showed the church had such a policy.

Masterson’s attorney claims in the court record that the prosecution recognized ‘that the complaining witnesses’ testimony was by itself underwhelming’ and pivoted to presenting ‘a significantly more aggressive case.’ 

‘The primary change was to prominently portray the Church of Scientology, of which petitioner was a member, as a villainous force that had discouraged the complaining witnesses from reporting their allegations of rape to the police in 2003, and that was actively harassing the complaining witnesses in retaliation for making their complaints in 2017,’ Multhaup alleged in the petition 

Much of the appeal mirrors arguments made by Masterson’s previous attorney, Cliff Gardner, who filed a 246-page appellate brief in December 2024. 

Masterson remains incarcerated at California Men’s Colony, where high-profile inmates have previously included Suge Knight and Charles ‘Tex’ Watson. 

His estranged wife, Bijou Phillips, filed for divorce less than two weeks after sentencing and was granted full custody of their daughter, Fianna Francis.

Despite the split, Phillips has brought Fianna to visit him, including for his birthday in March 2024. 

Last month, Philipps has filed to change her daughter’s last name. 

The actress requested to change their 11-year-old daughter’s name from Fianna Francis Masterson to Fianna Francis Phillips, per documents obtained by TMZ. 

Phillips and Masterson married in 2011 after meeting at a Las Vegas poker tournament, and appeared together in three films and an episode of Raising Hope.