A jury in March convicted Turner, 20, of sexually assaulting an unconscious, intoxicated woman outside a Stanford University fraternity party past year, in a case that has drawn worldwide attention to the culture of sexual violence on campus.
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Two graduate students riding by on bicycles noticed Turner lying on top of her half-naked body, thrusting his hips at her while she remained motionless. Before that text, a photo was sent to a group via a third party app called GroupMe.
The case against one-time Olympic hopeful Brock Turner has gripped the U.S., with letters to a judge from Turner’s family and friends drawing outrage from critics who say they shift blame from a 20-year-old man who won’t take responsibility for his actions.
Turner is now in the Santa Clara County Jail.
“This really speaks out to a groundswell of outrage in the community”, said Paul Hogarth, campaign director for Daily Kos.
The delivery of the signatures was only the highest profile development on a day when furor continued to grow over what has quickly become an internationally symbolic cause in the fight against “rape culture”. Activists from UltraViolet hold a rally calling for the removal of Judge Aaron Persky from the bench.
This case has led into massive outrage from the public especially when the defendant’s father wrote a letter that was lenient towards his son.
He is prohibited from commenting on the case because Turner, who withdrew from Stanford after his arrest, is appealing against the conviction.
This story has corrected to show that Turner could have faced 14 years in prison, not 10.
Victoria Henley, director and chief counsel of California’s Commission on Judicial Performance, said that complaints to the commission are confidential, so she could not confirm or deny whether any have been made about Persky.
They’ll read about all she must still endure: “I can’t sleep alone at night without having a light on, like a five year old, because I have nightmares of being touched where I cannot wake up, I did this thing where I waited until the sun came up and I felt safe enough to sleep”. He said she “seemed to enjoy” it.
It was considerably less than the six-year sentence recommended by prosecutors.
The District Attorney’s Office has said there is no legal grounds to challenge Turner’s sentence.
“Judges have a duty to apply the law to the facts and evidence before them, regardless of public opinion or political pressure”, the statement reads.
Just after 1 a.m. on January 18, 2015, law enforcement officers responded to a report of an unconscious female in a field near the Kappa Alpha fraternity house, according to a sentencing memo.
Court records released Friday include the prosecution’s 28-page memo to Persky.
Organizers would need to collect 58,634 signatures from registered county voters, and a recall election would follow. “I was barely sleeping”, she said.
Some experts are anxious about the chilling effect the outcry against Persky may have on judges, while others say they would welcome a more responsive judiciary.
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The Turner case is seen as particularly emblematic of the way rape assaults are handled on United States campuses, where observers say lax policies have created a climate of impunity and discouraged victims from speaking out, especially when sports stars are involved.
