Closing arguments begin in Danny Masterson rape retrial | ABCNL

Well, happening today is closing arguments in the rape retrial of that 70s show actor, Danny Masterson. The 47-year-old has been charged with three counts of rape by force or fear and has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he could face up to 45 years in prison. ABC News legal contributor and criminal defense attorney, Shona Lloyd, joining me on to talk about this. So Masterson's first trial ended in a mistrial and that was in December, with jurors hopelessly deadlocked on all three counts. Closing arguments are a huge part in appealing to the jurors. So do you think prosecutors did enough to sway the jury this time around, Shona? I think we'll see a different outcome because let's not remember.

Not only closing arguments, but there are two key pieces of evidence that were allowed in this trial that were not allowed in the first trial. First, that's the expert testimony on Scientology. Also that's the direct evidence about the drug, the young ladies being drugged. So that could have a very significant impact on this jury because those are two topics that are very charged and people have very strong feelings about them. So I do think that we'll see a different outcome. So in your experience now that we've heard testimony from the women that were impacted by sexual assault, how does this change things for both the defense and the prosecution? In these type of cases, whenever I've had to try these cases, when the victim comes forth and she tells her story or whoever the victim is and comes and tells their story, the jury has the ability to determine credibility. They determine whether they believe the story as these victims are recounting it.

So it's powerful evidence for the jury to make a determination on whether or not they believe the factual allegations that were given against the defendant. So Masterson's attorneys have said that the stories told by these women are full of inconsistencies and that they're just not credible. Do you think they've put up a good defense here? Here, I never believe in attacking the victim. It typically falls flat with jurors because if a juror sympathizes in any way with that particular victim, it makes that particular defense argument fall flat. So you really don't want to do that. You want to go after the facts of the case. You want to go after the actual inconsistencies themselves as opposed to attacking the victims.

Point well made, Shana. Thanks so much. Always a pleasure. Hi everyone, George Stephanopoulos here. Thanks for checking out the ABC News YouTube channel. If you'd like to get more videos, show highlights and watch live event coverage, click on the right over here to subscribe to our channel and don't forget to download the ABC News app for breaking news alerts. Thanks for watching.

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