Jury at stalemate in Danny Masterson rape trial; deliberations to resume after Thanksgiving; new evidence discovered; no new charges filed; defendant’s attorney says new evidence will clear his client; more
January 30, 2013
by Paul Sperry
On Wednesday, defense attorney Paul D. Chrietz said that newly discovered evidence will prove that there was no forcible rape. But, for the first time in a decade, the defense rested without presenting its case. The jury deliberated for several hours Wednesday afternoon, but no decision on the matter was reached until Thursday morning.
Jury had to come to verdict in Masterson rape case;
After several hours of deliberation, the jury of ten men and four women returned to a courtroom on the State House steps on Thursday morning to render its verdict on a case that has been an emotional trial for the past year.
For the second time in ten years, the jury at the end of a one-week trial in a case that captivated the nation last year has left the matter of the forcible rape of a 14-year-old girl by Danny Masterson unresolved.
The defendant, who is charged with forcing himself on the girl between December 1, 1991, and January 20, 1992 at his home in north Lawrence, was acquitted of the rape charges stemming from the alleged rape.
In the days before the trial ended at the end of last year, attorneys and parties argued fiercely over whether or not a rape had taken place.
Prosecutor John Burris has argued that there was no forcible rape, but defense attorneys have claimed there was.
Earlier Thursday, jurors deliberated more than eight hours before finding Masterson not guilty of the charges.
Jurors told District Judge John McQuade in a verdict form that a reasonable doubt existed about whether Masterson had actually raped the girl.
“A reasonable doubt was created in the mind of this jury with regard to whether Mr. Masterson engaged in sexual intercourse with the alleged victim, ” the jury foreman wrote.
The foreman added, “It appears a reasonable possibility exists that the alleged victim and Mr. Masterson