One is a former girlfriend who said Masterson raped her five years into their relationship in 2001.
'She came with a bias and a motive,' Cohen said.Īnson guided jurors through the testimonies of all three women.
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He emphasized an instruction that said jurors could not hold his religion as a sign against his character, and a stipulation from both sides that no evidence was presented at trial that Masterson had harassed the women.Ĭohen said Claire Headley, a former Scientology official who testified as a prosecution expert in an element not allowed at the first trial, had credibility problems based on an unsuccessful lawsuit against the church and a relationship with Remini. 'Could it be because there are problems with the government's case?' 'Why have we heard so much about Scientology?' Cohen said in his closing. Leah Remini attends the 2019 IDA Documentary Awards at Paramount Pictures on Decemin Los AngelesĪctor Leah Remini, a former member of the church who has become one of its most prominent public opponents, sat in the courtroom, her arm around one of the accusers, who testified during both trials that Masterson raped her in 2003. The church has denied having any policy discouraging members from going to law enforcement. 'In Scientology, the defendant is a celebrity and he is untouchable.'
'The church taught his victims, `Rape isn't rape, you caused this, and above all, you are never allowed to go to law enforcement,'' she said. Cohen said that alone was enough to crater her credibility and introduce reasonable doubt that Masterson is guilty.Īnson took aim at the Church of Scientology, of which Masterson is a member and all three women are former members, throughout her argument, emphasizing that church authorities kept the women from accepting what had happened to them and from reporting it to police for years. She insisted she had told police about it then. He dwelled on one woman testifying that Masterson pulled a gun from a nightstand at one point during the night she said she was attacked, though there was no mention of it in the report from her initial police interview. 'What she views as little inconsistencies are at the heart of trying to determine, `Is somebody, reliable, credible, believable enough for a criminal conviction?'' 'She did a very nice job of ignoring many of them,' Cohen said.
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