Danny Masterson's ex-girlfriend takes stand; says rape came years into relationship
Masterson is being tried again after the jury at his first trial was deadlocked on all three counts.
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A former girlfriend of actor Danny Masterson testified Tuesday that he had grown increasingly abusive and controlling during their five-year relationship when he raped her in their bed in November of 2001.
The woman, a model who had begun dating Masterson in 1996, shortly before he gained fame as a star of the sitcom "That '70s Show," said there had been previous instances when she woke in the night to find Masterson on top of her, and had accepted sex with him to avoid angering him.
On this night, however, she said clearly she did not consent, and resisted.
"I told him 'no, I don't want to have sex.' He didn't listen to me," said the woman, the first to take the stand in the Los Angeles courtroom at Masterson's retrial on three counts of rape.
She spoke more quickly and grew more emotional as the story continued. "So I continued pleading with him, like, 'please get off of me, no.' And he was continuing. And it was painful. And I remember trying to push his chest up off of me. I couldn't get him off of me."
She said Masterson pinned her arms above her head to keep her down. As she struggled, she recalled Masterson's clearly established "rules" that no one touch his hair or his face, which she had previously heeded.
"If I did this, I knew it wouldn't be good. But I believed it would maybe make him stop."
She said she managed to free one arm and yanked his hair at the back of his head. She said he then hit her in the jaw with a partially closed fist, spat on her, and stormed off.
Masterson, who is charged with raping three women from 2001 to 2003, is being tried again after the jury at his first trial was deadlocked on all three counts. He has pleaded not guilty and his attorneys have denied all of the allegations in the trial, saying the women's accounts are full of inconsistencies and not credible.
Masterson, 47, could get 45 years in prison if convicted of all three counts.
Masterson's former girlfriend said Tuesday that the rape was an especially dark moment in a series of ugly incidents in their relationship.
She said she reported the alleged rape to the ethics officer at the Church of Scientology - who told her that she shouldn't use the word "rape" - or report Masterson to police.
Scientology denies that it discourages anyone from reporting criminal conduct.
The former girlfriend will be cross-examined Wednesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
