Third accuser in Danny Masterson trial testifies about alleged rape, says: 'He was like a predator'
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The third of three women accusing actor and Scientologist Danny Masterson of rape told jurors Wednesday that Masterson, "commanded her like a drill sergeant" to take off her clothes - and that she "obeyed him," in part because she was blacking out after Masterson gave her one glass of wine.
Masterson is facing three felony counts of forcible rape for the incidents between 2001 and 2003. He has pleaded not guilty and maintains that all of the sex was consensual. It's not clear yet if Masterson will take the witness stand in his own defense.
Jane Doe 2 told the jury Wednesday that she knew Masterson a bit through their social and professional circles. As a Scientologist and working actress, she'd see him at Scientology's Celebrity Centre and at parties and art shows.
In late 2003, she described going to a bar on Sunset Boulevard called "The Well" with friends, including Masterson. She says they were sitting in "a kind of VIP booth" drinking when she noticed Masterson staring at her in a "somewhat predatory" way.
"Danny was staring at me so intently, in such a laser-focused way and it was like boring a hole into my head," she testified. "I found him intimidating," she said, adding that she's suffered from anxiety most of her life.
Jane Doe 2 says Masterson asked for her phone number and then texted her within a couple of days.
"He started commanding and demanding that I come over right now," she testified. "Come over right now, you're getting in my jacuzzi, bring your bathing suit, your bikini, you're getting in my jacuzzi, now," she says Masterson ordered her.
Jane Doe 2 says she thought it was "obnoxious, aggressive," and that she told him if she came over -- it would be only to maybe have a glass of wine, talk and then she'd go home.
"I didn't grasp why there was so much aggression and direct commanding of what to do," she testified. "I thought maybe this was his way of flirting."
The alleged rape
Jane Doe 2 says she agreed to go to his home that night because, "I think I was curious about the potential for it to be mildly romantic - in a way that was respectful -- and talk and maybe get to know each other a little."
"I don't know, kiss - but nothing else," she testified. "Just to talk really and maybe he'd get to know me."
She testified that as soon as she arrived, Masterson handed her a glass of red wine and told her to "drink it now, drink it now."
They went into the backyard, and she remembers it was chilly outside.
"He said take off your clothes right now," she testified. "He kept saying, 'take them off now, take them off now -- and if you don't, I'm going to take them off.'"
Jane Doe 2 testified that she doesn't remember how she ended up in the jacuzzi with at least some of her clothes off -- and that he was "commanding" her at the same time she began to feel the effects of that glass of wine.
"He was commanding me, like a drill sergeant - 'get your clothes off,'" she said, adding that she began to black out. Some of her memories were vivid and came in flashes, but some "things started to disappear."
Jane Doe 2 says things "escalated" in the jacuzzi. "I remember very blurry making out, kissing and feeling really out of it," adding that she told him repeatedly that they could not have sex.
"I just kind of obeyed him, because he was so commanding," she testified through tears about how he allegedly ordered her inside the home, up the stairs and into the shower.
Jane Doe 2 told jurors that there are "blank spots" in her memory, but she got in the shower with Masterson. "All of a sudden, he went inside me... and I freaked out," she testified.
"I had already said to him, no - we cannot have intercourse, we are not having sex," she recalled. "I said what are you doing - get out - you can't do that!"
She says Masterson then told her, "Go get in my room, go get in my bed."
"I was just at this point obeying him, he had just raped me in the shower, and I didn't really know what to do other than obey him now," she testified, her hands shaking at times.
"I was mostly trying to keep it from becoming violent."
Jane Doe 2 says she was "pleading with him" that they could not have sex and that she thought she could "manage" the situation.
"Then he said, 'that's it," she testified. "And he flipped me over on the bed like fast.. and then he started pounding me from behind really hard."
"It hurt, it really hurt," she told the jury, adding that she started to vomit in her mouth. "And it was like a jackhammer - boom, boom, boom, boom, boom - it really hurt," she said through tears.
Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller asked her how she felt during the alleged rape.
"Out of it, scared, in pain deep in there," she replied. "Just like a rag doll, not totally in charge of my faculties, myself."
Jane Doe 2 says she has "vague recollections" of more sex that night and into the morning. She says she was confused and overwhelmed - and "I didn't want it to be rape, because so many reasons, so many reasons."
She explained that because she and Masterson were in the same church, she "did not want to think of somebody in the church that I was friendly with as a rapist."
"We were profoundly scrutinized for negative thoughts against others, sins against them," she testified. "Also, emotionally I could not process at the time that it was a rape," adding that Scientology considered Masterson "more important" than her.
"I wasn't allowed to think of it that way because of the church," she told the jury. "I was trying, I was sort of gaslighting myself... that this was romantic and it's kind of your fault. I was really trying to recontextualize it for myself to be safe."
Jane Doe 2 says she stayed at Masterson's home until 5 or 6am and hoped he would call her in the days to come. She admits she reached out to him at least three times after the alleged rape.
"I just wanted to not think of it as rape, abuse... how violent it was," she testified. "I only wanted him to call me to confirm it wasn't rape... to not have it be rape."
"Do you see it differently today," DDA Mueller asked.
"Absolutely," she responded about her feelings now. "To me it was rape, and he was like a predator," she said.
The aftermath
Jane Doe 2 went on to testify about who she told about the alleged rape in the subsequent days and weeks. She says she told her mom within a few days but did not use the word rape.
"I could not say that to her, I did not say that to my mom," she testified. "Not back then."
Jane Doe 2 says she told her mom that it had been "really, really bad" and that he'd been "very rough" with her and that she'd vomited in her mouth a couple of times.
She also says she told her best friend at the time and fellow actress Jordan Ladd.
"I said, you know, something happened with Danny," she testified of telling Ladd. "And we had sex, and it was, he was pounding me like a jackhammer."
Jane Doe 2 went on to explain why she did not report the alleged rape to law enforcement at the time.
"My understanding is that I would be excommunicated, lose my standing, all my community, my friends and family," she testified. "I would be expelled and excommunicated and declared a Suppressive Person and seen as evil."
In a previous statement to Eyewitness News, Scientology spokesperson Karin Pouw said, "it is an outrageous and bigoted falsehood that Scientology forbids the reporting of criminal conduct by Scientologists - or by anyone - to law enforcement."
"The women in question have not been declared "suppressive persons," Pouw said in the statement.
In 2016, the LAPD launched a new investigation after being contacted by Jane Doe 3, also known as Chrissie B. Jane Doe 2 was part of this renewed investigation and described her interactions with the initial LAPD detective on the case as "shady and suspicious."
"I felt we were in danger," she testified. "She was not interviewing witnesses; she was not professional... we were worried about corruption," Jane Doe 2 testified of Detective Esther Reyes.
Mueller wrapped up his direct examination by asking Jane Doe 2 if she had concerns or fears about testifying at this trial.
"Yeah," she said taking deep breaths.
"Have you experienced any harassment or intimidation or stalking - anything like that," Mueller asked.
"For six years - constant," she replied, adding that the harassment began the week she reported the rape to law enforcement.
Cross-examination
On cross-examination, Masterson defense attorney Philip Cohen drilled down on Jane Doe 2's contacts with other alleged victims in the case and statements she made to police and prosecutors over the years.
"Did you tell Detective Reyes that you did not feel he'd hurt you," Cohen asked. "Yes," she replied.
"Did Detective Reyes tell you not to talk to other witnesses," Cohen asked. "I'm sure she said it at some point," she answered.
"Did you ever tell Detective Reyes that it was your right to speak with whomever," Cohen asked. "I did, yes," she replied.
"At the end of the night, you thought maybe you'd date him," Cohen asked. "Kind of," she answered. "He wasn't really my type."
"You hoped he'd like you," Cohen asked. "So that I wouldn't have to reconcile what happened," she replied.
"And you thought - we're probably going to start dating," Cohen asked. "Yes," she replied.
Cohen tried to get Jane Doe 2 to admit she voluntarily went upstairs at Masterson's home that night.
"I obeyed him," she replied. Raising her voice a bit -- Jane Doe 2 recounted what she says Masterson ordered her. "Go upstairs now - to my bedroom... shower."
Got a tip? Email ABC7 Investigative Producer Lisa. Bartley@abc.com
