Brock Turner

Brock Allen Turner (born August 1, 1995, in Dayton, Ohio) is an American male citizen who was convicted in a 2016 jury trial of three counts of sexual assault. On September 30, 2016, California amended the law to include digital rape within the definition of the word "rape", but such a change cannot be applied retroactively to this case. The change in the law also required time in state prison for the crime.

The premature charges of "rape" filed by the prosecutor, which were the "verifiable truth" of a sort for many months, closely associated Turner's name with the word. The case became widely (but improperly) known as the "Stanford rape case". There is a great deal of amateur coverage of the case that simply uses the word "rape" to describe what happened. Although sexual assault and rape are often conflated, even by FBI measurements, Turner committed sexual assault, not rape. The case, and in particular the lengthy victim fimpact statement presented by the unnamed victim after the verdict, received a great deal of publicity. The victim was so intoxicated with alcohol that she recalled nothing of the entire evening. The judge in the case, judge Aaron Persky, commented afterward to a journalist that he believed Turner's version of the events, in particular that the victim explicitly granted him consent for sexual activity. Persky received a great deal of negative publicity for the 6-month county jail sentence he meted out. He later switched to handling civil cases for at least the rest of the year. After the sentence, Stanford Law Professor and sociologist Michele Landis Dauber launched a recall effort on Persky. When the California Commission on Judicial Performance closed its investigation into Persky on December 17, 2016, the recall effort seemed likely to be a failure.

As of 2017, Turner is on the sexual offender registry in Ohio. Turner resides at his parent's residence and is preparing his appeal. Turner's legal appeal would be led by well-known attorney Dennis Riordan. Riordan had been present in court at a June 2, 2016 hearing.

Indictment and charges

On January 28, 2015, Turner was indicted on five charges:

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

The rape kit was processed and tested negative for Turner's DNA. The two premature charges of rape were dismissed due to lack of evidence by Persky at a preliminary hearing on October 7, 2015.

Incident

The crime occurred on January 18, 2015. Turner, a student athlete (swimming) of Stanford was found outdoors by passersby with an unconscious 22-year-old female non-student who was partially unclothed on top of her and performing pelvic thrusts. He admitted that he had "fingered" her.

After being arrested, Turner soon withdrew as a student from Stanford University. The university banned him from ever setting foot on campus again. The governing body for competitive swimming in the USA, USA Swimming, banned him for life.

People v. Turner

The trial is known as People of the State of California v. Brock Allen Turner. The trial began on March 14, 2016. The prosecution was conducted by Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Alaleh Kianerci. The defense attorney was Michael Armstrong of the Palo Alto firm Nolan, Armstrong & Barton.

The jury composition was four women and eight men, and two alternate jurors, both men.

Opening statements

Kianerci emphasized to jurors that it was their duty to decide whether or not consent had been given.

Armstrong opened with a statement that affirmed Turner’s plea of innocent. He pointed out that all parties involved had consumed alcohol and that only Turner was present and conscious for the entire incident.

Prosecution phase

Prosecution conceded that the victim was extremely drunk.

Defense phase

Turner maintained his plea of innocence. He claimed that the victim willingly went with him after briefly socializing at the party. Turner took the stand and testified that the victim eagerly engaged in sexual acts with him on the ground and that she ignored the pine needles in her hair and pelvic area. He testified that he was too drunk himself to realize she had passed out.

Closing arguments

Kianerci asked the jurors to disregard Turner's privileged circumstances. She indicated that the assault was a crime of opportunity and she characterized him as the "face of campus sexual assault."

Armstrong reminded the jury that the area behind the dumpster was not very secluded, as evidenced by the passersby spotting him. He reminded them that Turner pleaded ignorance with passersbys and suggested that he was afraid of them and that was why he ran.

Verdict

The jury deliberated for just about one day. They delivered their verdict on March 30, 2016. Turner was found guilty of three remaining felonies.

Victim impact statement

See [1]. The statement received a great deal of attention on the Internet. The victim in her impact statement asserted that she was so debilitated emotionally that she quit her job and was having difficulties caring for herself. She did not indicate that she was taking any sort of remedial action such as receiving any proper counseling, therapy or other assistance to help her emotionally cope with these difficulties. The reader is reminded that such statements are made under oath. Nonetheless, she managed to give an extensive interview with Glamour Magazine that was published on November 1, 2016.

Sentence

Persky sentenced Turner to six months in County jail. Turner served three months and was released on September 2, 2016.

Sex Offender Registry data

Turner is on the Ohio sex offender registry as a "Tier III" offender. This is the most serious level of offender under the national attempt of a uniform code via the "Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act" of 2006.

Arrival home

The case received a wide amount of publicly in the United States and elsewhere in the world. Upon arriving to his parents residence in Dayton, Turner ran a gauntlet of protesters waving poster and at least one firearm, with the poster scrawled with slogans such as "Kill the rapist".

Brock's future towards rehabilitation

Networking with the leadership of:

• http://www.cityofbellbrook.org/
• http://www.daytonohio.gov/

and advancing his education and later finding gainful employment in such.