Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky was expected to decide on Thursday whether to reduce a plumber’s felony conviction for possession of child pornography to a misdemeanor, but has now made a decision to take himself off the case, apparently in light of media coverage. Victim writes letter to Brock TurnerStanford law school professor Michele Dauber is spearheading the effort to recall Persky. He was subsequently sentenced to just six months in jail after blaming his attack on “party culture”.
Advertisement
“While on vacation earlier this month, my family and I were exposed to publicity surrounding this case”, the judge wrote in his brief ruling.
According to the Associated Press, “Chain was arrested in May 2014 after a San Jose sex crimes investigator remotely watched his computer download child porn images”. “This publicity has resulted in a personal family situation such that ‘a person aware of the facts might reasonably entertain a doubt that the judge would be able to be impartial'”.
Gary Goodman, a deputy public defender who opposes a recall, saw it quite differently.
Chain’s attorney, Brian Madden, told the AP that reducing Chain’s conviction to a misdemeanor would “make it easier for the 48-year-old to find future employment, housing, and financing because a felony conviction would appear during background checks”.
Robert Chain, the plumber, was convicted of having nearly 200 child pornography images – some of the images showed children between 5 and 12-years-old.
“It does not emanate from the Brock Turner case”, university spokeswoman Lisa Lapin said on Tuesday.
“It’s hard to look at this policy with respect to fraternities and be very optimistic”, said Douglas Fierberg, a Washington, D.C., lawyer.
“We don’t believe Persky was doing a good job in this case in the first place, or in other cases involving sex or violent crimes against women, ” Dauber said Monday.
The six-month sentence he handed down to Turner, a Dayton, Ohio, resident who had been attending Stanford on a swimming scholarship, drew outrage. Turner was found guilty in March of three counts of sexual assault for the attack on an unconscious woman in January 2015.
Earlier this year, university officials met with students, faculty and staff to discuss ways to address drinking culture on campus and the pressure that students may feel to drink.
Stanford University has banned hard alcohol from undergraduate parties and shots will not be allowed a graduate-student parties in an effort to stem binge drinking and its possible consequences, reports say.
Advertisement
“We must create a campus community that allows for alcohol to be a part of the social lives of some of our students, but not to define the social and communal lives of all of our students”, Greg Boardman, vice provost for student affairs, wrote to students.
