Danny Masterson was found guilty Wednesday of raping two women in the early 2000s, and will face up to 30 years in state prison. After eight days of deliberation, the jury said it was deadlocked on a third charge brought by another Jane Doe.
Masterson was immediately taken into custody and faces 30 years in a California state prison once sentencing is set at an Aug. 4 hearing. His wife, the actress Bijou Phillips, wailed loudly from the gallery and began to cry, prompting the judge to ask her to keep her composure as the father of their 9-year-old daughter was handcuffed and led away.
After the lunch break, much of Masterson's family had gathered outside the courtroom, indicating that a decision could be near. When Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo took the bench, she said: "The court received a note after 11 a.m., reading, 'We have come to a decision on two counts and deadlocked on one count.'"
After polling the jurors on their decision, Olmedo heard arguments from defense attorney Philip Cohen for a house-arrest detention for Masterson while he awaits sentencing. She replied that, given the violent nature of the crime and the sentence he faces, Masterson is a "flight risk" - and sent him off to jail.
Los Angeles prosecutors chose to re-try Masterson after a hung jury and mistrial last November. The "That '70s Show" star, now 47 and father to a young daughter with wife Bijou Phillips, faced a maximum sentence of 40 years or more in state prison.
He was accused by three different women, who testified in both trials that Masterson raped them at his Los Angeles home in separate - but chillingly similar - incidents between 2001 and 2003. A fourth Jane Doe had also testified as a support witness in the second trial, but her allegations were not among the charges.
Also new for the re-trail, prosecutors focused more on the allegation that Masterson had drugged his victims, brining on expert witnesses and telling the jury outright - as opposed to merely inferring it - that the "That '70s Show" star had slipped his victims intoxicants to gain control.
The prosecution also focused more on Scientology, of which Masterson is still an active member. All thee accusers are former Scientologists, and are pursuing a civil matter against the church, Masterson and other defendants, claiming they were mercilessly harassed after parting ways with Scientology.
To get a conviction, the jury needed to unanimously find Masterson guilty on at least two of the three charged cases. That stipulation enabled the case to clear California's statute-of-limitations bar by proving pattern behavior.
This story is developing .