One of the three women accusing actor and North Shore native Danny Masterson of rape had a panic attack on the witness stand, reported ABC7 Los Angeles.
Jane Doe #3, known as Chrissie B., said she couldn’t breathe, was afraid to go into the courtroom’s hallway and said she had ndured harassment and stalking by Scientology since reporting to the police six years ago of her alleged rape, ABC7 reported.
Masterson, known for his role in “That 70’s Show,” who grew up in East Williston and Garden City, is standing trial on three counts of rape filed by separate women who have accused Masterson of assaulting them in 2001 and 2003.
The Church of Scientology, of which Masterson is a member, has reportedly played a significant role in the case against the actor, whose credits include the sitcom “Men at Work” and the 2008 Jim Carrey comedy “Yes Man.”
All three women accusing Masterson are former Scientologists, according to Deadline.
Chrissie B. said she was in a relationship with Masterson for six years, according to Deadline.
On direct examination, she told the jury that after dinner in December 2001 she had one or two glasses of wine and doesn’t remember anything after leaving the restaurant, according to ABC 7.
The next day, she said she woke up naked with her anal area “torn and bleeding,” ABC 7 reported.
Masterson is not charged with the alleged sodomy-rape in December 2001, but is charged with a November 2001 suspected rape., according to ABC 7.
One of the rapes Masterson is charged with includes Chrissie B. waking up one night to Masterson raping her and fighting him off by pulling his hair, according to the AP.
“I was sleeping, I woke up and he was having sex with me and I didn’t want to. … I told him I didn’t want to have sex, and he wouldn’t stop,” Jane Doe #3, aka CB, said of the encounter at their Hollywood Hills home,” reported Deadline.
Masterson has pleaded not guilty and was released on a $3.3 million bail he posted last year.
The charges against the 46-year-old actor could result in up to 45 years in state prison if convicted, reports say.
The actor was seen last week attending the first day of the trial with members of his family and wife, according to ABC 7.
Thomas Mesereau is Masterson’s lead attorney and also represented Bill Cosby and Michael Jackson in their respective sexual misconduct cases.
Mesereau told the court that the three women and the witnesses in their respective cases were “tainted by anti-religious bias” against the secretive church, according to the AP.