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 assaulted an intoxicated and unconscious 22-year-old[1] woman (referred to as "Emily Doe"[2]) with his fingers.[3][4]
Turner was caught by two Stanford international students from Sweden, who testified that they intervened because the woman appeared to be unconscious. Turner fled the scene as they approached, resulting in the two apprehending and restraining him until police arrived to take him into custody.[4][5] 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.[6][7] He was released the same day after posting $150,000 bail.[8]
Turner was indicted on January 28, 2015, on five charges: two for rape, two for felony sexual assault, and one for attempted rape.[8] He was arraigned on February 2, 2015, pleading not guilty on all five charges.[9] On October 7, 2015, after reviewing the results of DNA tests, the two rape charges were dropped by prosecutors.[4][8] The trial began on March 14, 2016,[10] and concluded on March 30, 2016, with Turner being convicted of the three remaining charges of felony sexual assault.[11][12] 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.[13] On June 2, 2016, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky sentenced Turner to six months' confinement in the Santa Clara County jail (of which he served half) 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[14] and furthermore, ordered to complete a state approved rehabilitation program for sex offenders.[12]
Immediately after Turner's conviction, there was widespread public criticism of the sentence, accusing Persky of judicial bias in favor of male, white and class privilege,[15] 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".[16][17] Persky was recalled by county voters on June 5, 2018.[18]
The victim impact statement to the court was also widely disseminated by international media outlets, fueling a resurgence of the wider debate regarding the prevalence of campus sexual assault in the United States. Her statement described her suffering and days surrounding the incident in vivid detail, dissecting and chastising Turner's actions and the probation court's recommendation of a short sentence. According to Vice News, "[the case had become] the latest controversial episode in an ongoing debate sweeping the U.S. about rape culture, class privilege in the criminal justice system, and campus safety."[19]
On November 1, 2016, Glamour named "Emily Doe" a woman of the year for "changing the conversation about sexual assault forever", citing that her statement has been read over 11 million times.[20] The case influenced the California legislature to toughen sexual assault laws by requiring prison terms for rapists whose victims were unconscious and including digital penetration in the penal code's definition of rape.[21][22]
In September 2019, Chanel Miller, the "Emily Doe" in the case, revealed her real name and announced that she is releasing a book later in the month with the title Know My Name: A Memoir in which she discusses her experience of the assault, trial, and the aftermath.[23][24][25]
Background
Brock Turner was born August 1, 1995, in Dayton, Ohio.[8] He graduated from Oakwood High School in 2014, where he was a three-time All-American swimmer.[26][27] At the time of his arrest, Turner was a 19-year-old freshman at Stanford University; enrolled on a swimming scholarship.[8][5]
Before sentencing, the prosecution filed a memo with the court describing Turner's drug and alcohol history at Stanford and earlier in high school. It recounted that police found photos and messages on Turner's cell phone that indicated extensive drug use, including LSD, ecstasy, marijuana extracts, and excessive alcohol. Turner was arrested in 2014 for possession of alcohol while under legal age.[28]
By the conventions of U.S. courts and media, the woman Turner was convicted of assaulting was called "V01" in the redacted police report on the incident, "Jane Doe" in the indictment,[29] and "Emily Doe"[2] and "Jane Doe 1" by local and regional newspapers,[30] including the San Jose Mercury News, the Stanford Daily and the Palo Alto Weekly.[31] At the time of her assault, Doe was a 22-year-old alumna of a different college. Her younger[32] sister (referred to by the media as Tiffany[2][33] Doe[32] or Jane Doe 2[34]), was a student at a distant California university.
Incident details
Two Swedish graduate students, Peter Lars Jonsson (AKA W01) and Carl-Fredrik Arndt (AKA W02), were cycling by the Kappa Alpha fraternity on the Stanford campus about 1:00 a.m., on January 18, 2015, when they spotted the assault taking place.[35] According to Arndt and Jonsson, they surprised Turner behind a dumpster as he was on top of an unconscious woman.[12] Jonsson testified that he confronted him, asking, "What the fuck are you doing? She's unconscious." According to Jonsson, Turner quickly rose and fled the scene. As Arndt briefly went to determine whether she was breathing, Jonsson chased Turner, tripped him and held him down around 75 feet (23 m) away from the dumpster, asking "What are you smiling for?"[5] Later, responding to the assistant District Attorney's questions during the trial, Turner testified that he was laughing because he found the situation ridiculous.[36] Arndt rapidly joined the chase, helping to pin Turner down when he was apprehended. A bystander at the dumpster called emergency services while two other passersby arrived to help Arndt and Jonsson keep Turner pinned on the ground.[35] Campus police arrived moments later, questioned Turner, and then arrested him.
According to a deputy sheriff who described the victim as unconscious at the scene, when she arrived at the hospital, she did not respond to shouting and being shaken by the shoulders. She regained consciousness at 4:15 am.[37] She later testified at Brock's trial that at the time she regained consciousness, she had pine needles in her hair and on her body, and dried blood on her hands and elbows.[38] In an interview with police, she said she did not recall being alone with a man during the night and stated she did not consent to any sexual activity.[39] At the hospital, the victim was found to have abrasions and erythema (reddening) on her skin. One nurse who administered a Sexual assault response team examination at the hospital determined that she had experienced significant trauma (physical injury, bruising, etc.) and penetrating trauma (piercing and cutting injuries).[40]
Turner and the victim had attended a party at Kappa Alpha fraternity earlier in the night. The victim's sister testified in the trial that Turner, a man previously unknown to her, had approached her twice and attempted to kiss her, but that she pulled away. She also testified that she never saw Turner and the victim interact at the party.[41] According to a police report compiled in the morning after the incident, Turner at first told police that he met the victim outside the fraternity house and left with her. He also stated he did not know her name and "stated that he would not be able to recognize her if he saw her again."[42][39]
After his arrest, Turner told police that he met the victim at the Kappa Alpha house, they "drank beer together," "walked away from the house holding hands," and that he took off her clothes and fondled her while she rubbed his back. Turner then said he got nauseous and told her he needed to vomit. Turner said he got up and started to walk away to throw up, and heard another person saying something to him which he could not understand, then heard the same person talking to another person in a foreign language. He also denied running from the graduate students.[39][43] During his trial testimony, Turner stated that he and the victim drank beer together, danced and kissed at the party and agreed to go back to his room. Turner stated that the victim slipped on a slope behind a wooden shed, then Turner got down to the ground and started kissing with the victim. Turner stated he then asked her if she wanted him to "finger" her, to which she said yes. He stated that he "fingered" her for a minute as they were kissing, then they started "dry humping." Turner testified that he stumbled down an incline where he was confronted by the graduate students saying things like "You're sick" and "Do you think that's OK?" Turner testified that he didn't know what they were talking about.[44] They said they grabbed him, but Turner said that he broke away, but was quickly tackled.[4][44]
Both prosecuting Attorney Alaleh Kianerci and the victim alleged that Turner's narrative during trial testimony was fabricated.[33][45] Kianerci argued to the jury that, "He's able to write the script because she has no memory. But just because he wrote the script doesn't mean that ... knowledgeable jurors have to believe it."[33] The victim described Turner's testimony as presenting "a strange new story, [that] almost sounded like a poorly written young adult novel."[45]
Alcohol
In his statements Turner described initially drinking five Rolling Rock[44] beers and two swigs of Fireball whiskey in a friend's room, and then having more beer later,[46] reaching a total of nine drinks.[47]
Tested some time after his arrest, Turner's blood alcohol content was estimated to have been 0.171% at 1 a.m.[41][48] He testified that he did remember what happened that night.[4] Emily Doe's blood alcohol concentration was measured in a hospital several hours after the assault at 0.12%, and doctors estimated her intoxication level at 1 a.m., the estimated time of the assault, to have been around 0.22%,[48][49] or 0.242-0.249%.[41] She told the police that she did not remember the events from some point after her arrival at the party until she woke up more than three hours later in the hospital.[4][50] Shortly before 1 a.m., Doe phoned her boyfriend and left a voicemail message, which would be later entered as evidence by the prosecution. The Palo Alto Weekly described it as "almost entirely incomprehensible"; a juror later cited it as particularly strong evidence that she was not in a fit state to give consent.[51]
The blood alcohol estimates for Turner and Doe for 1 a.m. were made by a supervising criminalist for Santa Clara County using nominally hypothetical situations.[41]
Turner admitted to only limited prior experience with alcohol, as a putative mitigating factor. However, evidence recovered from his cell phone texts recorded in the year before his 2015 arrest showed that he had extensively discussed his use of alcohol.[52] His text messages also revealed use of illegal drugs.[53] In 2014, Turner had been arrested on campus for underage drinking.[54]
Consciousness
Doe reported that her last memory was around midnight, and that she did not remember telephone calls to her sister and sister's friend made shortly after that.[41] A responding paramedic said she did not respond to a "shake and shout" test,[41] but that she opened her eyes when he pinched her nail beds.[41] When Doe vomited on the scene before being taken away by ambulances, she was able to cough and spit out the vomit on her own without assistance.[41] In a January 19 report, the paramedic rated her as 11 out of 15 on the Glasgow Coma Scale.[41]
DNA
Santa Clara County criminalist Craig Lee testified that the woman's DNA was found under the fingernails of Turner's left and right hands and on a portion of his right finger. Lee's test did not show when the DNA was deposited and could not tell if it was blood, but he said it did resemble blood. The woman testified that she woke up with dried blood on her hands and elbows.[3][55]
Official responses
Turner withdrew from Stanford shortly after the incident rather than face disciplinary proceedings. On January 20—two days after his arrest—Stanford announced Turner had been banned from campus.[56] Stanford further announced within two weeks of the incident that it had banned Turner from ever setting foot on campus again—the harshest disciplinary sanction it can impose on a student.[57]
Turner had aspirations to swim for the U.S. National Team in the 2016 Olympics, but USA Swimming stated on June 6 that he would not be eligible for membership if he sought to reapply.[58][59] On June 10, USA Swimming reiterated that Turner would never be welcome in its ranks again, under its zero-tolerance policy for sexual misconduct. That announcement effectively banned Turner from ever participating in a competitive swimming event for the United States. Sanctioned meets in the United States—including Olympic trials—are open only to members of USA Swimming.[60]
Indictment and charges
On January 28, 2015, Turner was indicted on five charges:[61][62]
rape of an intoxicated person
rape of an unconscious person
sexual penetration (by a foreign object) of an unconscious woman
sexual penetration (by a foreign object) of an intoxicated woman
assault with intent to commit rape
These were summarized as "two counts of rape, two counts of penetration and one count of assault with intent to rape".[8] The two formal charges of rape under California state law were dropped at a preliminary hearing on October 7, 2015,[62] after DNA testing revealed no genetic evidence of genital-to-genital contact.[3][4] On March 7, 2016, The People filed Motions in Limine And Witness List, which outlined permissible Evidence guidelines for the trial.[63] The trial began on March 14, 2016.[10]
Sentencing
On March 30, 2016, Turner was found guilty of three felonies: assault with intent to rape an intoxicated woman, sexually penetrating an intoxicated person with a foreign object, and sexually penetrating an unconscious person with a foreign object.[64]
Prosecutors recommended that Turner be given a six-year prison sentence based on the purposefulness of the action, the effort to hide this activity and her intoxicated state.[65] Santa Clara County probation officials, including his probation officer Monica Lassettre, recommended that Turner receive a "moderate" county jail sentence with formal probation based on Turner's lack of criminal history, youth and expression of remorse.[13] The probation report did not mention another woman who said she had been upset by Turner's unwanted physical advances at a Kappa Alpha party, eight days before the charged offense. This report was present in the trial record.[66]
On June 2, 2016, the Judge Aaron Persky sentenced Turner to six months in the Santa Clara County jail[11] followed by three years of probation.[13][67] After three months in jail, Turner was released on September 2, 2016.[14][68] He is permanently registered as a sex offender,[14] and was made obligated to participate in a sex offender rehabilitation program.[12]
Reaction
Controversy over sentence
Prosecutors and victims' rights advocates criticized Persky's sentencing as lenient and biased.[15] Persky himself had been a student and lacrosse team captain at Stanford University.[69]
Nancy Brewer, a retired Santa Clara County assistant public defender, described Persky as being respected by both prosecutors and defenders, stating that he was seen as a fair judge who is not soft on crime or a judge that would give lenient sentences. Brewer said that Persky had carefully evaluated the evidence and did what he thought was a fair and appropriate sentence in the case based on the Santa Clara County Probation Department's pre-sentence investigation report. Attorney and media legal analyst Danny Cevallos said: "[the judge] absolutely is obliged to consider very seriously the [probation department] report," and noted that the California penal code allows a judge to depart from the statutory minimum (two years) after considering the defendant's lack of criminal history and the effect of incarceration. Cevallos believed that while the sentence was lenient, Turner's prior clean record made him a candidate for minimum sentencing.[70]
Deputy Public Defender Sajid Khan did not consider the sentence lenient as he noted "Turner will register as a sex offender for life, and if he violates his probation he could go to prison for 14 years." Khan further stated that "Persky's reputation among public defenders (a group closely attuned to racial inequities in the courtroom) is that of a fair-minded jurist", saying, "No one has been able to cite an example so far of him [sic] where a similarly situated minority client has been treated harshly by him. We appreciated ... the judge's understanding of Brock Turner's humanity ... and we would want any judge to do the same for our clients."[16][71] Similarly, other sitting judges (both state and federal) and legal commentators have defended Persky's decision, noted that the sentence may, in their opinion, be disproportionate due to the lifelong consequences of a criminal conviction and sex offender registration, and called on the bar to protect the independence of the judiciary.[72][73][74]
Turner's father protested the prison sentence requested by the prosecutor, saying "[The sentence] is a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life."[75] Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeffrey F. Rosen criticized the letter from Turner's father to the court, saying it reduced a brutal sexual assault to "20 minutes of action."[76]
Repercussions to the judge
Persky recalled
Although he did not face any opposition in an election held five days after the sentencing, Persky faced a campaign to recall him. Online petitions calling for Persky to be removed attracted over a million signatures by June 10, 2016.[77] Professor Michele Dauber, of the Stanford Law School and longtime advocate on campus sexual assault,[78] who is also a family friend of the victim, led the Committee to Recall Judge Persky. The Committee planned to collect signatures in Santa Clara County to force a November 2017 recall vote.[79] A request for an injunction by Persky delayed that initiative. The California Attorney General's office supported the propriety of the county registrar of voters approval of the petition allowing the recall to go forward. Persky's legal team argued that since he was a state officer, only the California Secretary of State had the authority to approve its acceptance. The recall vote required gathering 90,000 verified signatures.[80] Persky paid $30,000 to the firm of Brian Seitchik, the manager of Donald Trump's presidential campaign in Arizona, to lead the opposition to the recall.[81] A retired judge living in Santa Cruz heard Persky's request for injunction to prevent the recall election, and approved it.[82] The demands for recall received support from Representative Ted Poe (R-Texas), who spoke in the United States House of Representatives to condemn Turner's sentence as too lenient and to call for Persky's removal.[83]
The move to recall Persky was opposed by the Santa Clara County public defender, who said she was "alarmed by the hysteria" about the Turner sentence. A group of 70 public defenders petitioned in support of Persky, warning against "mass incarceration" brought upon by state legislatures or indiscreet judges, and fearing that the backlash against Persky could hurt their clients (mostly poor African and Latino) by compelling judges to give out harsh sentences. Deputy Public Defender Sajid Khan wrote "rather than using robotic, one size fits all punishment schemes, we want judges, like Judge Persky, to engage in thoughtful, case by case, individualized determinations of the appropriate sentence for a particular crime and particular offender".[16][17] Santa Clara County district attorney Jeff Rosen, whose office prosecuted Turner and did not appeal the sentence, stated, "While I strongly disagree with the sentence that Judge Persky issued in the Brock Turner case, I do not believe he should be removed from his judgeship"[84], adding, "Judicial independence is a critical part of the U.S. justice system. The immense power that comes with judicial independence also comes with accountability to the people we serve."[17]
Danny Cevallos stated that judges enjoy a modicum of independence from public pressure, and "there are no apparent grounds for impeachment or allegations of judicial misconduct, based on this sentence alone." Cevallos said that the recall movement "raises the question: is removing judges good for the spirit of the judiciary system, especially when the judge's sole transgression is a legal sentence" where he correctly applied the law.[85][86] The Santa Clara County Bar Association released a statement saying that removing Persky would be a "threat to judicial independence" and weighs just one of his 13 years of decisions too heavily, saying they see "no credible assertions that in issuing the sentence, Judge Persky violated the law or his ethical obligations or acted in bad faith."[16] Similarly, other sitting judges (both state and federal) and legal commentators defended Persky's decision, noted that the sentence might, in their opinion, be disproportionate due to the lifelong consequences of a criminal conviction and sex offender registration, and called on the bar to protect the independence of the judiciary.[72][73][74]
In June 2016, at least ten prospective jurors refused to serve in a misdemeanor trial for possession of stolen property where Persky was presiding, citing the judge's sentencing of Turner as a reason.[87] The following week, Rosen filed a peremptory motion for recusal in a case where Persky was to preside over the criminal trial of a surgical nurse charged with sexual battery for allegedly touching the genitals of a patient under sedation. Rosen called his move to have the judge removed from the case, "a rare and carefully considered step for our office."[87]
As a result of the backlash in the wake of his sentencing, Persky asked not to hear any more criminal cases and was reassigned to the Civil Division of the California Court system.[88]
The Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, on January 24, 2018, confirmed that sufficient signatures had been verified to put the recall on the ballot. There were 94,539 signatures submitted, only a fraction of which were verified in order to reach the total needed to qualify.[89] The recall issue was on the state elections ballot on June 5, 2018.[90] The California Commission on Judicial Performance found that Persky had not abused his discretion. He was supported by dozens of law school professors, retired judges and the Santa Clara Bar Association. He stood by his sentencing, saying he's been unfairly targeted as the "face of rape" by recall advocates. At the same time he admitted, "There is an underlying deep frustration among actual victims of sexual assault and women in general about the criminal justice system not taking sexual assault and domestic violence seriously. It's a very genuine and important problem." "The passion is authentic, the end is justified, let's increase sexual assault reporting. Let's do criminal justice reform where it's smart to do so." In a press conference in May 2018, Persky compared his sentence handed down in the Turner case to that of Brown v. Board of Education.[91] [92][93][94]
In a May 18, 2018 interview, Persky stated he had no regrets, and would rule exactly the same again on this case.[95]
Two women, Cindy Hendrickson, a Santa Clara County assistant district attorney and Angela Storey, a civil attorney, appeared on the ballot to take Persky's position in the event of his successful recall.[96] Storey opposed the recall on principle. When the election results were being tabulated, and they indicated Persky would be recalled, Professor Dauber stated, "The vote today ... is a vote against impunity for high-status offenders of domestic violence and sexual violence." Hendrickson won the election to take Persky's place.[97] Persky left the bench and Hendrickson was sworn in ten days after the election results were certified.[96] In the June 5, 2018 primary election, nearly 200,000 Santa Clara County voters turned out, voting to remove Persky by 61.51% to 38.49%, a margin of over 23%. Persky was the first judge to be recalled by voters in California in 86 years, and the first in the United States since 1977.[98]
Persky ordered to pay legal fees
The county clerk had 28 days within which to certify the recall election results, ten days after which Hendrickson would take Persky's place on the bench.[99] Persky was ordered to pay $161,000 in restitution for lawsuits he filed against the recall.[100] He sought over $135,000 in donations from the public to cover attorney fees after the $840,000 previously raised had been exhausted.[101]
Revisit of previous civil case of alleged rape
Main article: 2007 De Anza rape investigation
In 2011, Persky presided over a civil lawsuit against multiple members of the De Anza College baseball team, who were accused by plaintiff "Jane Doe" of gang-raping the then-underaged girl while she was unconscious, until another party attendee who heard the commotion intervened. The civil trial came after the District Attorney had declined to prosecute a criminal case, as she thought evidence was lacking. During the civil trial, Persky decided that the jury should be allowed to view photographs of the plaintiff taken at another party she attended approximately a year after the alleged gang rape, as per the defense's claim that this evidence contradicted the plaintiff's claims of suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.[102] The jury found the defendants not liable.[103]
Following Turner's sentencing in 2016, the plaintiff's attorneys in the De Anza case criticized Persky for allowing the photos into evidence. Attorneys for Doe said the photographs were not the only evidence that Persky unfairly permitted. Four of the baseball players had invoked Fifth Amendment rights not to self-incriminate during the discovery phase of the litigation. According to a lawyer for Doe, that was a critical juncture: it prevented their legal team from obtaining evidence that could have helped them pursue their case. The original judge in the case ruled in 2010 that the defendants could refuse to testify, but that meant that they would be prohibited from subsequently testifying in the case. That prohibition was lifted by Persky after he took over the trial in 2011, a move that Doe's attorneys say undermined her case.[102]
Statements
Defendant's statements
After the guilty verdict, Turner said to his probation officer that the encounter was consensual.[104] He also gave an 11-page statement to the judge[46] that said he received verbal consent from the woman before she passed out.
According to Turner's statement, he and the woman drank, danced, and kissed at the party. Sometime around midnight, according to Turner, he asked her whether she would like to go back to his dorm and she said yes. He claimed that she had slipped behind a wooden shed, whereupon he sat down on the ground with her and engaged in consensual sexual activity, until he became nauseous and walked away to throw up.[4][105]
Turner stated, "It debilitates me to think that my actions have caused her [Emily Doe] emotional and physical stress that is completely unwarranted and unfair."[106]
Victim-impact statements
Turner was caught by two Stanford international students from Sweden, who testified that they intervened because the woman appeared to be unconscious. Turner fled the scene as they approached, resulting in the two apprehending and restraining him until police arrived to take him into custody.[4][5] 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.[6][7] He was released the same day after posting $150,000 bail.[8]
Turner was indicted on January 28, 2015, on five charges: two for rape, two for felony sexual assault, and one for attempted rape.[8] He was arraigned on February 2, 2015, pleading not guilty on all five charges.[9] On October 7, 2015, after reviewing the results of DNA tests, the two rape charges were dropped by prosecutors.[4][8] The trial began on March 14, 2016,[10] and concluded on March 30, 2016, with Turner being convicted of the three remaining charges of felony sexual assault.[11][12] 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.[13] On June 2, 2016, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky sentenced Turner to six months' confinement in the Santa Clara County jail (of which he served half) 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[14] and furthermore, ordered to complete a state approved rehabilitation program for sex offenders.[12]
Immediately after Turner's conviction, there was widespread public criticism of the sentence, accusing Persky of judicial bias in favor of male, white and class privilege,[15] 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".[16][17] Persky was recalled by county voters on June 5, 2018.[18]
The victim impact statement to the court was also widely disseminated by international media outlets, fueling a resurgence of the wider debate regarding the prevalence of campus sexual assault in the United States. Her statement described her suffering and days surrounding the incident in vivid detail, dissecting and chastising Turner's actions and the probation court's recommendation of a short sentence. According to Vice News, "[the case had become] the latest controversial episode in an ongoing debate sweeping the U.S. about rape culture, class privilege in the criminal justice system, and campus safety."[19]
On November 1, 2016, Glamour named "Emily Doe" a woman of the year for "changing the conversation about sexual assault forever", citing that her statement has been read over 11 million times.[20] The case influenced the California legislature to toughen sexual assault laws by requiring prison terms for rapists whose victims were unconscious and including digital penetration in the penal code's definition of rape.[21][22]
In September 2019, Chanel Miller, the "Emily Doe" in the case, revealed her real name and announced that she is releasing a book later in the month with the title Know My Name: A Memoir in which she discusses her experience of the assault, trial, and the aftermath.[23][24][25]
Background
Brock Turner was born August 1, 1995, in Dayton, Ohio.[8] He graduated from Oakwood High School in 2014, where he was a three-time All-American swimmer.[26][27] At the time of his arrest, Turner was a 19-year-old freshman at Stanford University; enrolled on a swimming scholarship.[8][5]
Before sentencing, the prosecution filed a memo with the court describing Turner's drug and alcohol history at Stanford and earlier in high school. It recounted that police found photos and messages on Turner's cell phone that indicated extensive drug use, including LSD, ecstasy, marijuana extracts, and excessive alcohol. Turner was arrested in 2014 for possession of alcohol while under legal age.[28]
By the conventions of U.S. courts and media, the woman Turner was convicted of assaulting was called "V01" in the redacted police report on the incident, "Jane Doe" in the indictment,[29] and "Emily Doe"[2] and "Jane Doe 1" by local and regional newspapers,[30] including the San Jose Mercury News, the Stanford Daily and the Palo Alto Weekly.[31] At the time of her assault, Doe was a 22-year-old alumna of a different college. Her younger[32] sister (referred to by the media as Tiffany[2][33] Doe[32] or Jane Doe 2[34]), was a student at a distant California university.
Incident details
Two Swedish graduate students, Peter Lars Jonsson (AKA W01) and Carl-Fredrik Arndt (AKA W02), were cycling by the Kappa Alpha fraternity on the Stanford campus about 1:00 a.m., on January 18, 2015, when they spotted the assault taking place.[35] According to Arndt and Jonsson, they surprised Turner behind a dumpster as he was on top of an unconscious woman.[12] Jonsson testified that he confronted him, asking, "What the fuck are you doing? She's unconscious." According to Jonsson, Turner quickly rose and fled the scene. As Arndt briefly went to determine whether she was breathing, Jonsson chased Turner, tripped him and held him down around 75 feet (23 m) away from the dumpster, asking "What are you smiling for?"[5] Later, responding to the assistant District Attorney's questions during the trial, Turner testified that he was laughing because he found the situation ridiculous.[36] Arndt rapidly joined the chase, helping to pin Turner down when he was apprehended. A bystander at the dumpster called emergency services while two other passersby arrived to help Arndt and Jonsson keep Turner pinned on the ground.[35] Campus police arrived moments later, questioned Turner, and then arrested him.
According to a deputy sheriff who described the victim as unconscious at the scene, when she arrived at the hospital, she did not respond to shouting and being shaken by the shoulders. She regained consciousness at 4:15 am.[37] She later testified at Brock's trial that at the time she regained consciousness, she had pine needles in her hair and on her body, and dried blood on her hands and elbows.[38] In an interview with police, she said she did not recall being alone with a man during the night and stated she did not consent to any sexual activity.[39] At the hospital, the victim was found to have abrasions and erythema (reddening) on her skin. One nurse who administered a Sexual assault response team examination at the hospital determined that she had experienced significant trauma (physical injury, bruising, etc.) and penetrating trauma (piercing and cutting injuries).[40]
Turner and the victim had attended a party at Kappa Alpha fraternity earlier in the night. The victim's sister testified in the trial that Turner, a man previously unknown to her, had approached her twice and attempted to kiss her, but that she pulled away. She also testified that she never saw Turner and the victim interact at the party.[41] According to a police report compiled in the morning after the incident, Turner at first told police that he met the victim outside the fraternity house and left with her. He also stated he did not know her name and "stated that he would not be able to recognize her if he saw her again."[42][39]
After his arrest, Turner told police that he met the victim at the Kappa Alpha house, they "drank beer together," "walked away from the house holding hands," and that he took off her clothes and fondled her while she rubbed his back. Turner then said he got nauseous and told her he needed to vomit. Turner said he got up and started to walk away to throw up, and heard another person saying something to him which he could not understand, then heard the same person talking to another person in a foreign language. He also denied running from the graduate students.[39][43] During his trial testimony, Turner stated that he and the victim drank beer together, danced and kissed at the party and agreed to go back to his room. Turner stated that the victim slipped on a slope behind a wooden shed, then Turner got down to the ground and started kissing with the victim. Turner stated he then asked her if she wanted him to "finger" her, to which she said yes. He stated that he "fingered" her for a minute as they were kissing, then they started "dry humping." Turner testified that he stumbled down an incline where he was confronted by the graduate students saying things like "You're sick" and "Do you think that's OK?" Turner testified that he didn't know what they were talking about.[44] They said they grabbed him, but Turner said that he broke away, but was quickly tackled.[4][44]
Both prosecuting Attorney Alaleh Kianerci and the victim alleged that Turner's narrative during trial testimony was fabricated.[33][45] Kianerci argued to the jury that, "He's able to write the script because she has no memory. But just because he wrote the script doesn't mean that ... knowledgeable jurors have to believe it."[33] The victim described Turner's testimony as presenting "a strange new story, [that] almost sounded like a poorly written young adult novel."[45]
Alcohol
In his statements Turner described initially drinking five Rolling Rock[44] beers and two swigs of Fireball whiskey in a friend's room, and then having more beer later,[46] reaching a total of nine drinks.[47]
Tested some time after his arrest, Turner's blood alcohol content was estimated to have been 0.171% at 1 a.m.[41][48] He testified that he did remember what happened that night.[4] Emily Doe's blood alcohol concentration was measured in a hospital several hours after the assault at 0.12%, and doctors estimated her intoxication level at 1 a.m., the estimated time of the assault, to have been around 0.22%,[48][49] or 0.242-0.249%.[41] She told the police that she did not remember the events from some point after her arrival at the party until she woke up more than three hours later in the hospital.[4][50] Shortly before 1 a.m., Doe phoned her boyfriend and left a voicemail message, which would be later entered as evidence by the prosecution. The Palo Alto Weekly described it as "almost entirely incomprehensible"; a juror later cited it as particularly strong evidence that she was not in a fit state to give consent.[51]
The blood alcohol estimates for Turner and Doe for 1 a.m. were made by a supervising criminalist for Santa Clara County using nominally hypothetical situations.[41]
Turner admitted to only limited prior experience with alcohol, as a putative mitigating factor. However, evidence recovered from his cell phone texts recorded in the year before his 2015 arrest showed that he had extensively discussed his use of alcohol.[52] His text messages also revealed use of illegal drugs.[53] In 2014, Turner had been arrested on campus for underage drinking.[54]
Consciousness
Doe reported that her last memory was around midnight, and that she did not remember telephone calls to her sister and sister's friend made shortly after that.[41] A responding paramedic said she did not respond to a "shake and shout" test,[41] but that she opened her eyes when he pinched her nail beds.[41] When Doe vomited on the scene before being taken away by ambulances, she was able to cough and spit out the vomit on her own without assistance.[41] In a January 19 report, the paramedic rated her as 11 out of 15 on the Glasgow Coma Scale.[41]
DNA
Santa Clara County criminalist Craig Lee testified that the woman's DNA was found under the fingernails of Turner's left and right hands and on a portion of his right finger. Lee's test did not show when the DNA was deposited and could not tell if it was blood, but he said it did resemble blood. The woman testified that she woke up with dried blood on her hands and elbows.[3][55]
Official responses
Turner withdrew from Stanford shortly after the incident rather than face disciplinary proceedings. On January 20—two days after his arrest—Stanford announced Turner had been banned from campus.[56] Stanford further announced within two weeks of the incident that it had banned Turner from ever setting foot on campus again—the harshest disciplinary sanction it can impose on a student.[57]
Turner had aspirations to swim for the U.S. National Team in the 2016 Olympics, but USA Swimming stated on June 6 that he would not be eligible for membership if he sought to reapply.[58][59] On June 10, USA Swimming reiterated that Turner would never be welcome in its ranks again, under its zero-tolerance policy for sexual misconduct. That announcement effectively banned Turner from ever participating in a competitive swimming event for the United States. Sanctioned meets in the United States—including Olympic trials—are open only to members of USA Swimming.[60]
Indictment and charges
On January 28, 2015, Turner was indicted on five charges:[61][62]
rape of an intoxicated person
rape of an unconscious person
sexual penetration (by a foreign object) of an unconscious woman
sexual penetration (by a foreign object) of an intoxicated woman
assault with intent to commit rape
These were summarized as "two counts of rape, two counts of penetration and one count of assault with intent to rape".[8] The two formal charges of rape under California state law were dropped at a preliminary hearing on October 7, 2015,[62] after DNA testing revealed no genetic evidence of genital-to-genital contact.[3][4] On March 7, 2016, The People filed Motions in Limine And Witness List, which outlined permissible Evidence guidelines for the trial.[63] The trial began on March 14, 2016.[10]
Sentencing
On March 30, 2016, Turner was found guilty of three felonies: assault with intent to rape an intoxicated woman, sexually penetrating an intoxicated person with a foreign object, and sexually penetrating an unconscious person with a foreign object.[64]
Prosecutors recommended that Turner be given a six-year prison sentence based on the purposefulness of the action, the effort to hide this activity and her intoxicated state.[65] Santa Clara County probation officials, including his probation officer Monica Lassettre, recommended that Turner receive a "moderate" county jail sentence with formal probation based on Turner's lack of criminal history, youth and expression of remorse.[13] The probation report did not mention another woman who said she had been upset by Turner's unwanted physical advances at a Kappa Alpha party, eight days before the charged offense. This report was present in the trial record.[66]
On June 2, 2016, the Judge Aaron Persky sentenced Turner to six months in the Santa Clara County jail[11] followed by three years of probation.[13][67] After three months in jail, Turner was released on September 2, 2016.[14][68] He is permanently registered as a sex offender,[14] and was made obligated to participate in a sex offender rehabilitation program.[12]
Reaction
Controversy over sentence
Prosecutors and victims' rights advocates criticized Persky's sentencing as lenient and biased.[15] Persky himself had been a student and lacrosse team captain at Stanford University.[69]
Nancy Brewer, a retired Santa Clara County assistant public defender, described Persky as being respected by both prosecutors and defenders, stating that he was seen as a fair judge who is not soft on crime or a judge that would give lenient sentences. Brewer said that Persky had carefully evaluated the evidence and did what he thought was a fair and appropriate sentence in the case based on the Santa Clara County Probation Department's pre-sentence investigation report. Attorney and media legal analyst Danny Cevallos said: "[the judge] absolutely is obliged to consider very seriously the [probation department] report," and noted that the California penal code allows a judge to depart from the statutory minimum (two years) after considering the defendant's lack of criminal history and the effect of incarceration. Cevallos believed that while the sentence was lenient, Turner's prior clean record made him a candidate for minimum sentencing.[70]
Deputy Public Defender Sajid Khan did not consider the sentence lenient as he noted "Turner will register as a sex offender for life, and if he violates his probation he could go to prison for 14 years." Khan further stated that "Persky's reputation among public defenders (a group closely attuned to racial inequities in the courtroom) is that of a fair-minded jurist", saying, "No one has been able to cite an example so far of him [sic] where a similarly situated minority client has been treated harshly by him. We appreciated ... the judge's understanding of Brock Turner's humanity ... and we would want any judge to do the same for our clients."[16][71] Similarly, other sitting judges (both state and federal) and legal commentators have defended Persky's decision, noted that the sentence may, in their opinion, be disproportionate due to the lifelong consequences of a criminal conviction and sex offender registration, and called on the bar to protect the independence of the judiciary.[72][73][74]
Turner's father protested the prison sentence requested by the prosecutor, saying "[The sentence] is a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life."[75] Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeffrey F. Rosen criticized the letter from Turner's father to the court, saying it reduced a brutal sexual assault to "20 minutes of action."[76]
Repercussions to the judge
Persky recalled
Although he did not face any opposition in an election held five days after the sentencing, Persky faced a campaign to recall him. Online petitions calling for Persky to be removed attracted over a million signatures by June 10, 2016.[77] Professor Michele Dauber, of the Stanford Law School and longtime advocate on campus sexual assault,[78] who is also a family friend of the victim, led the Committee to Recall Judge Persky. The Committee planned to collect signatures in Santa Clara County to force a November 2017 recall vote.[79] A request for an injunction by Persky delayed that initiative. The California Attorney General's office supported the propriety of the county registrar of voters approval of the petition allowing the recall to go forward. Persky's legal team argued that since he was a state officer, only the California Secretary of State had the authority to approve its acceptance. The recall vote required gathering 90,000 verified signatures.[80] Persky paid $30,000 to the firm of Brian Seitchik, the manager of Donald Trump's presidential campaign in Arizona, to lead the opposition to the recall.[81] A retired judge living in Santa Cruz heard Persky's request for injunction to prevent the recall election, and approved it.[82] The demands for recall received support from Representative Ted Poe (R-Texas), who spoke in the United States House of Representatives to condemn Turner's sentence as too lenient and to call for Persky's removal.[83]
The move to recall Persky was opposed by the Santa Clara County public defender, who said she was "alarmed by the hysteria" about the Turner sentence. A group of 70 public defenders petitioned in support of Persky, warning against "mass incarceration" brought upon by state legislatures or indiscreet judges, and fearing that the backlash against Persky could hurt their clients (mostly poor African and Latino) by compelling judges to give out harsh sentences. Deputy Public Defender Sajid Khan wrote "rather than using robotic, one size fits all punishment schemes, we want judges, like Judge Persky, to engage in thoughtful, case by case, individualized determinations of the appropriate sentence for a particular crime and particular offender".[16][17] Santa Clara County district attorney Jeff Rosen, whose office prosecuted Turner and did not appeal the sentence, stated, "While I strongly disagree with the sentence that Judge Persky issued in the Brock Turner case, I do not believe he should be removed from his judgeship"[84], adding, "Judicial independence is a critical part of the U.S. justice system. The immense power that comes with judicial independence also comes with accountability to the people we serve."[17]
Danny Cevallos stated that judges enjoy a modicum of independence from public pressure, and "there are no apparent grounds for impeachment or allegations of judicial misconduct, based on this sentence alone." Cevallos said that the recall movement "raises the question: is removing judges good for the spirit of the judiciary system, especially when the judge's sole transgression is a legal sentence" where he correctly applied the law.[85][86] The Santa Clara County Bar Association released a statement saying that removing Persky would be a "threat to judicial independence" and weighs just one of his 13 years of decisions too heavily, saying they see "no credible assertions that in issuing the sentence, Judge Persky violated the law or his ethical obligations or acted in bad faith."[16] Similarly, other sitting judges (both state and federal) and legal commentators defended Persky's decision, noted that the sentence might, in their opinion, be disproportionate due to the lifelong consequences of a criminal conviction and sex offender registration, and called on the bar to protect the independence of the judiciary.[72][73][74]
In June 2016, at least ten prospective jurors refused to serve in a misdemeanor trial for possession of stolen property where Persky was presiding, citing the judge's sentencing of Turner as a reason.[87] The following week, Rosen filed a peremptory motion for recusal in a case where Persky was to preside over the criminal trial of a surgical nurse charged with sexual battery for allegedly touching the genitals of a patient under sedation. Rosen called his move to have the judge removed from the case, "a rare and carefully considered step for our office."[87]
As a result of the backlash in the wake of his sentencing, Persky asked not to hear any more criminal cases and was reassigned to the Civil Division of the California Court system.[88]
The Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, on January 24, 2018, confirmed that sufficient signatures had been verified to put the recall on the ballot. There were 94,539 signatures submitted, only a fraction of which were verified in order to reach the total needed to qualify.[89] The recall issue was on the state elections ballot on June 5, 2018.[90] The California Commission on Judicial Performance found that Persky had not abused his discretion. He was supported by dozens of law school professors, retired judges and the Santa Clara Bar Association. He stood by his sentencing, saying he's been unfairly targeted as the "face of rape" by recall advocates. At the same time he admitted, "There is an underlying deep frustration among actual victims of sexual assault and women in general about the criminal justice system not taking sexual assault and domestic violence seriously. It's a very genuine and important problem." "The passion is authentic, the end is justified, let's increase sexual assault reporting. Let's do criminal justice reform where it's smart to do so." In a press conference in May 2018, Persky compared his sentence handed down in the Turner case to that of Brown v. Board of Education.[91] [92][93][94]
In a May 18, 2018 interview, Persky stated he had no regrets, and would rule exactly the same again on this case.[95]
Two women, Cindy Hendrickson, a Santa Clara County assistant district attorney and Angela Storey, a civil attorney, appeared on the ballot to take Persky's position in the event of his successful recall.[96] Storey opposed the recall on principle. When the election results were being tabulated, and they indicated Persky would be recalled, Professor Dauber stated, "The vote today ... is a vote against impunity for high-status offenders of domestic violence and sexual violence." Hendrickson won the election to take Persky's place.[97] Persky left the bench and Hendrickson was sworn in ten days after the election results were certified.[96] In the June 5, 2018 primary election, nearly 200,000 Santa Clara County voters turned out, voting to remove Persky by 61.51% to 38.49%, a margin of over 23%. Persky was the first judge to be recalled by voters in California in 86 years, and the first in the United States since 1977.[98]
Persky ordered to pay legal fees
The county clerk had 28 days within which to certify the recall election results, ten days after which Hendrickson would take Persky's place on the bench.[99] Persky was ordered to pay $161,000 in restitution for lawsuits he filed against the recall.[100] He sought over $135,000 in donations from the public to cover attorney fees after the $840,000 previously raised had been exhausted.[101]
Revisit of previous civil case of alleged rape
Main article: 2007 De Anza rape investigation
In 2011, Persky presided over a civil lawsuit against multiple members of the De Anza College baseball team, who were accused by plaintiff "Jane Doe" of gang-raping the then-underaged girl while she was unconscious, until another party attendee who heard the commotion intervened. The civil trial came after the District Attorney had declined to prosecute a criminal case, as she thought evidence was lacking. During the civil trial, Persky decided that the jury should be allowed to view photographs of the plaintiff taken at another party she attended approximately a year after the alleged gang rape, as per the defense's claim that this evidence contradicted the plaintiff's claims of suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.[102] The jury found the defendants not liable.[103]
Following Turner's sentencing in 2016, the plaintiff's attorneys in the De Anza case criticized Persky for allowing the photos into evidence. Attorneys for Doe said the photographs were not the only evidence that Persky unfairly permitted. Four of the baseball players had invoked Fifth Amendment rights not to self-incriminate during the discovery phase of the litigation. According to a lawyer for Doe, that was a critical juncture: it prevented their legal team from obtaining evidence that could have helped them pursue their case. The original judge in the case ruled in 2010 that the defendants could refuse to testify, but that meant that they would be prohibited from subsequently testifying in the case. That prohibition was lifted by Persky after he took over the trial in 2011, a move that Doe's attorneys say undermined her case.[102]
Statements
Defendant's statements
After the guilty verdict, Turner said to his probation officer that the encounter was consensual.[104] He also gave an 11-page statement to the judge[46] that said he received verbal consent from the woman before she passed out.
According to Turner's statement, he and the woman drank, danced, and kissed at the party. Sometime around midnight, according to Turner, he asked her whether she would like to go back to his dorm and she said yes. He claimed that she had slipped behind a wooden shed, whereupon he sat down on the ground with her and engaged in consensual sexual activity, until he became nauseous and walked away to throw up.[4][105]
Turner stated, "It debilitates me to think that my actions have caused her [Emily Doe] emotional and physical stress that is completely unwarranted and unfair."[106]
Victim-impact statements
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