Danny Masterson was accused of raping his wife.
His wife told him that Masterson raped her in 2001.
Since his wife reported the rape, his family has been followed, according to his testimony.
In the third week of actor Danny Masterson's Los Angeles trial on criminal rape charges, the lead singer of The Mars Volta testified that he and his wife's family have been monitored by the Church of Scientologists.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office charged the actor with three counts of rape in 2020 based on the accounts of three women, one of whom is Zavala's wife. The witnesses experiences with the church after they tried to report the behavior are interwoven with the accusations.
He testified that he and his wife got married "almost immediately after" he met her, and that he loved her "like there's no tomorrow." Zavala testified on Friday that his wife told him in a conversation at their Franklin Hills home in 2010 that she had been raped by Masterson.
One of the few visible reactions from Masterson throughout the trial was when he was asked if he recognized Masterson in the room by the prosecution.
He described him as the man in the dark gray suit with red hair and pale skin.
Masterson glared at him as he walked out of the courtroom.
Zavala told the court how reluctant his wife was to talk about the incident with Masterson. They talked about a 2001 incident in which a woman claimed that Masterson raped her while she was unconscious.
She seemed to be controlled by a remote. She seemed afraid.
He said that his wife seemed embarrassed, avoiding eye contact and keeping her hands in her waist side during their conversation. She said that Masterson had done to her, and he was angry.
I was angry. He told her that she'd been raped.
He said that she talked to him about other incidents.
She seemed angry, embarrassed, and relieved all at the same time. He said that he had taken some courses but never considered himself a member of the organization.
The three accusers in the criminal trial and Zavala have a pending civil suit that accuses the Church of harassing and stalking them since the investigation of Masterson began. Three criminal charges of forcible rape were filed by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office in 2020.
In both the criminal trial and the civil case, Zavala claimed that he and his family had been harassed by the Church of Scientologists for a long time. The civil suit and witness testimony in the criminal case have been denied by the organization.
A Scientologist previously told Insider that the harassment allegations were self-serving. Those charges will be defeated by the church.
Zavala said that the harassment began after his wife reported the 2001 rape in Austin to police.
The prosecution asked Zavala if he had ever been harassed by the Church of Scientologists.
A church spokesman denied the testimony of the accusers and said that the church policy demands Scientologists abide by all laws of the land.
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