Danny Masterson makes first court appearance since June in LA

Danny Masterson made his first appearance in a Los Angeles courtroom Friday since being released on bail from rape charges in June.

The “That ’70s Show” actor, 44, was accompanied by his lawyer, Tom Mersereau, and joined by supporters, E! reports. Actress Leah Remini, who has been a vocal critic of Masterson and the Church of Scientology — of which he is a follower — was also in attendance at the hearing. Three women have accused Masterson of raping them at his Hollywood Hills home between 2001 and 2003.

Mesereau argued that LA District Attorney Jackie Lacey caved to media pressure to bring the three counts of rape by force or fear against Masterson, which Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller shot down as “pure speculation.” Lacey is up for re-election in November.

Mesereau filed paperwork requesting that the charges against Masterson be dropped, which will be decided during Masterson’s next court appearance on Oct. 19.

Masterson and the Church are also facing a civil suit from the three accusers — plus a fourth woman — accusing them of conducting a campaign of harassment against the women who came forward. “It was part of the pressure campaign to force them into ­silence,” one of the attorneys in the civil suit, Stewart Ryan, said.

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