People v. Turner
| People v. Turner | |
|---|---|
Seal of Santa Clara County, California
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| Court | Santa Clara County Superior Court |
| Full case name | People of the State of California v. Brock Allen Turner |
| Indictment | January 28, 2015, on counts: 1.) Rape of an intoxicated person 2.) Rape of an unconscious person 3.) Assault with intent to rape an intoxicated woman 4.) Sexually penetrating an intoxicated person with a foreign object 5.) Sexually penetrating an unconscious person with a foreign object |
| Started | March 14, 2016 |
| Decided | March 30, 2016 |
| Verdict | Count 1.) Withdrawn by prosecution Count 2.) Withdrawn by prosecution Count 3.) Guilty Count 4.) Guilty Count 5.) Guilty |
| Defendant | Brock Allen Turner |
| Outcome | |
| Turner was sentenced on June 2, 2016, to six months incarceration in the Santa Clara County jail to be followed by three years of formal probation. Additionally, Turner must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and participate in a sex offender rehabilitation program. | |
| Court membership | |
| Judge(s) sitting | Aaron Persky |
| Keywords | |
People v. Turner, formally People of the State of California v. Brock Allen Turner (2015), was a criminal case filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court which convicted Brock Allen Turner of three counts of felony sexual assault. Turner was a student athlete at Stanford University on January 18, 2015, when he sexually penetrated an intoxicated and unconscious 22-year-old woman (later called "Emily Doe") with his fingers. Turner was apprehended by two Stanford international students from Sweden, who testified that they intervened because the woman appeared to be unconscious. As they approached, Turner fled. The two men gave chase, apprehending Turner and restraining him until police arrived to take him in custody. The police arrested Turner on Stanford's campus, and booked him into the Santa Clara County jail on suspicion of attempted rape and penetration with a foreign object. He was released the same day after posting $150,000 bail.
Turner was indicted on January 28, 2015, on five charges: two for rape, two for felony sexual assault, and one for attempted rape. He was arraigned on February 2, 2015, pleading not guilty on all five charges. On October 7, 2015, after reviewing the results of DNA tests, the two rape charges were dropped by prosecutors. The trial began on March 14, 2016, and concluded on March 30, 2016, with Turner's conviction on the three remaining charges of felony sexual assault. The convictions carried a potential sentence of 14 years in prison. Prosecutors recommended six years in prison while probation officials recommended a "moderate" county jail sentence. On June 2, 2016, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky sentenced Turner to six months confinement in the Santa Clara County jail to be followed by three years of probation. Additionally, Turner was informed of his life-long obligation to be lawfully registered as a sex offender and furthermore, ordered to complete a state approved rehabilitation program for sex offenders.
In the immediate aftermath of the case, widespread public criticism emerged, accusing Persky of judicial bias in favor of male and class privilege, leading to campaigns for his recall or resignation. The Santa Clara County Bar Association and public defenders defended Persky, saying that the sentence was based upon the probation report as well as being consistent with similar cases, and stated that his removal would be a "threat to judicial independence". The victim impact statement to the court was also widely disseminated by international media outlets, fueling a resurgence of the wider debate regarding the epidemic of campus sexual assault overall. Her statement described her suffering in vivid detail, dissecting and criticizing Turner's actions both during and after the assault, and criticizing the probation department's recommendation of a short sentence for Turner. According to Vice News, the case had become "the latest, controversial episode in an ongoing debate sweeping the U.S. about rape culture, privilege in the criminal justice system, and campus safety".
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