Photo: Anna Webber / Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images
LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A judge said Thursday that a court filing indicates that all of the remaining guns that belonged to "That '70s Show" actor Danny Masterson have been relinquished since he was sentenced to 30 years to life in state prison for raping two women at his Hollywood Hills home about two decades ago.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo said the defense's filing indicates that the "firearms in question have all been properly relinquished."
The defense's filing noted that eight of the guns were "relinquished to an individual with a federal firearms license and are in storage with that individual," that another firearm was relinquished to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office for destruction and a tenth was reported destroyed in September 2015.
A firearms relinquishment investigation report filed with the court by the Los Angeles County Probation Department in November indicated that 13 other firearms owned by Masterson had been relinquished and were in "safekeeping with law enforcement" in July 2022, but indicated that 10 other firearms that had been registered to Masterson had not been relinquished.
The judge said she expects that Masterson will be transferred from a Los Angeles County jail to state prison.
Masterson has remained behind bars since his May 31 conviction on two counts of rape by force or fear.
Outside court, Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller told reporters that the prosecution was pleased that all of the guns have been accounted for, noting that Masterson had been ordered at his arraignment to relinquish any guns that he owned or possessed.
He said the prosecution was pleased that the guns have been located, noting that he does not have information about where the firearms had been located.
The prosecutor said the victims had expressed concern about the guns.
"They have expressed concerns and rightfully so," Mueller told reporters. "I mean, if there are guns out there that are missing and unaccounted for they want to know that those things get relinquished or destroyed and that they're not just still out there."
At the actor's sentencing in September, the judge told Masterson that she knew that he is "sitting here steadfastly on your claims of innocence."
"Mr. Masterson, you are not the victim here," the judge said, telling him that his actions had taken away another person's voice and choice and that the victims each reported the rapes to someone shortly afterward.
The judge called Masterson's actions "criminal," and subsequently called him back into court to order him to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life upon his release from state prison.
While convicting Masterson on two charges, jurors deadlocked on another rape charge involving a third alleged victim, who was a former longtime girlfriend of Masterson. Prosecutors announced in July that they would not retry the actor on that charge, and it was dismissed July 11.
Just before imposing the sentence on Masterson, the judge heard emotional victim impact statements from all three women, who described long- standing effects of the trauma they have said they experienced.
"You relish in hurting women," one of the women, identified in court as "Jane Doe 2," said in directly addressing Masterson. "You lived your life behind a mask as two people. But the real one sits here ..."
She said the world is "safer" with Masterson behind bars and believes that it never dawned on him that he would be "held accountable."
"I forgive you," she told the actor, saying that his "sickness" is no longer her burden.
The other victim, identified as "Jane Doe 1," said she wished that she had "reported him sooner" to Los Angeles police.
"I knew he belonged behind bars," she told the judge.
In a statement read on her behalf in court, Masterson's ex-girlfriend wrote that she entered the relationship as an "extremely naive" and "trusting" 18-year-old
The jury was the second to hear the case against Masterson, who was charged in 2020 with three counts of rape by force or fear involving the three women on separate occasions.
During the first trial last year, jurors leaned in favor of acquittal on all three counts -- voting 10-2 on one count, 8-4 on another and 7-5 on the third -- but they were unable to reach a unanimous decision, leading to a mistrial being declared in November 2022.
Masterson is appealing his conviction.
In a statement outside court after the sentencing, one of Masterson's attorneys, Shawn Holley, said a team of appellate lawyers has been reviewing the trial's transcripts and has identified "a number of significant evidentiary and constitutional issues which they will address in briefs to both state and federal appellate courts."
"Mr. Masterson did not commit the crimes for which he has been convicted and we and the appellate lawyers -- the best and the brightest in the country -- are confident that these convictions will be overturned," Holley said.
In December 2017, Netflix announced that Masterson had been fired from the Emmy-winning scripted comedy "The Ranch" amid sexual assault allegations.
The actor said then he was "very disappointed," and added that "it seems as if you are presumed guilty the moment you are accused." He also "denied the outrageous allegations" and said he looked forward to "clearing my name once and for all."