A 30-year resident of the USA who recently became a citizen, he felt that Judge Persky essentially took the case out of the jury’s hands. The juror wrote that the sentence made a “mockery of the whole trial”, that “the punishment does not fit the crime”, and that “justice has not been served”.
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While the judge sat thinking about how a prison sentence would affect this former all-American swimmer’s career, his victim, who was so intoxicated that she only regained consciousness hours after the event, told the court and Turner: “I am a human being who has been irreversibly hurt”.
Weber’s spokesman: “Her signing onto the letter demonstrates. that she is not averse to incarceration as a component of accountability, but that punishment should not be the sole objective of sentencing and should be commensurate with sentences of others who have committed similar acts”.
After his March conviction on three felony counts for the 2015 sexual assault, Turner was sentenced to six months in jail and three years of probation, but could be released in as little as three months. In the juror’s opinion, the American justice system failed in the case of Brock Turner.
Prosecutors sought six years for Turner, while the defense sought a four-month sentence.
FIRST, the victim herself read a powerful statement in court, addressing Turner and detailing what her life has been like since his rape. Reporter Elena Kadvany with the Palo Alto Weekly spoke with the juror after she received the letter.
He said they were “kind of perplexed and dismayed by the judge’s ruling in this case”. They lament that Brock can no longer compete in the Olympic Trials, that he lost his appetite for ribeye steaks, and he was turned down for two good jobs.
Here we go again, with the race card, and it’s just going to make things so much worse, because people will likely fail to remember that thirty year sentence handed down to Brandon Vandenberg, one of the two men who were arrested and tried for several counts of sexual assault against a young woman while they attended Vanderbilt University. The juror wrote of being “absolutely shocked and appalled” at the sentence.
An online petition calling for Persky’s removal from the bench has more than 1.2 million signatures. Nothing would be gained by sentencing Turner to more prison. Also, given Mr. Turner’s complete lack of credibility, I certainly would not assume that he will not be of danger to others. California law now describes rape as “an act of sexual intercourse”.
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“And finally, to girls everywhere, I am with you”. “To me, that just rings true as to – it sort of corroborates the evidence of his character up until the night of this incident, which has been positive”, he said. Although I can’t save every boat, I hope that by speaking today, you absorbed a small amount of light, a small knowing that you can’t be silenced, a small satisfaction that justice was served, a small assurance that we are getting somewhere, and a big, big knowing that you are important, unquestionably, you are untouchable, you are attractive, you are to be valued, respected, undeniably, every minute of every day, you are powerful and nobody can take that away from you.
