Former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner, who was sentenced to six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman on campus, has walked out of a jail in Santa Clara County, California, after serving half of his six-month sentence.
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Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith, who oversees the county jails, gave a brief statement about Turner’s time at the facility, saying he’s received volumes of hate mail and some threats, but none that were deemed credible.
“He should be in prison right now, but he’s not in our custody”, she told reporters.
A harrowing letter from the victim, who remains anonymous, helped draw attention to the case.
Heiskala was part of a demonstration organized by leaders of the campaign to recall the judge who sentenced Turner. Turner was released from the jail earlier Friday after serving half of his six month sentence.
Goodman also called Persky “a fair and very competent jurist”. He plans to head to his native OH to live with his parents. That’s where he grew up, and where he went after agreeing to withdraw from Stanford following his January 18, 2015, arrest.
Stephanie Pham, a political science major at Stanford and co-founder of the school’s Association of Students for Sexual Assault Prevention, said she was frustrated with Turner’s sentence because he was privileged as a Stanford student, athlete and white man. Prosecutors sought a six-year term in state prison. The next thing she said she remembered was waking up at a hospital in San Jose, where a deputy told her she may have been a victim of sexual assault.
Persky followed the probation department’s recommendation of probation and county jail time, based on Turner’s lack of criminal history, his show of “sincere remorse” and the fact that alcohol was involved, impairing his judgment.
Dozens of people gathered across from the Main Jail in San Jose where they heard from federal, state and local officials who believe Judge Aaron Persky was biased in serving a light six-month sentence for 21-year-old Brock Turner in a case that has received global attention.
Outcry over the sentence, which was considered too lenient in the eyes of many, was quick and substantial.
But supporters of the recall campaign said that is not enough. “Judge Persky does not”.
But under Brown’s initiative, Turner would have been eligible for earlier parole consideration even if he had been sentenced to prison, said Ventura County District Attorney Greg Totten, speaking on behalf of the California District Attorneys Association, which opposes the Democratic governor’s plan.
Many held signs that said, “Don’t legalize rape”, “Protect Women Recall Persky”, and “Stop Court Crimes”. “She’s going to college next year and I want her to be safe”.
“Victims of these types of sexual assaults struggle for years to cope with the damage done to their lives, and knowing that there is more just punishment to those that perpetrated these assaults my provide some solace to these victims”, Smith wrote.
California state Senate president Kevin De Leon calls for the removal of Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky from the bench, at a protest outside the Santa Clara County Jail in San Jose, Calif., Friday, Sept. The victim had passed out and Turner was on top of her when confronted by two graduate students passing by on bicycles. “But then I realized, it would have happened, just to somebody else”, she said in the letter.
Campos also said, “We are here to stand with ‘Emily Doe.'” The victim’s identity has not been released.
“I’m concerned about her safety next year”, Heiskala said.
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