Earlier this month, a preliminary hearing was held in the case of Brock Turner, the former Stanford swimmer who was accused of sexual assault back in January.
The preliminary hearing saw testimony from the alleged victim and a witness, and also saw two of five charges against Turner dropped.
The Stanford Daily reports that the hearing began on Monday, October 5 at the Palo Alto Courthouse. The school paper also noted that Turner and his lawyer were present along with the victim, a witness to the incident and one of the grad students who reportedly broke up the assault.
Turner, a freshman at Stanford, was arrested in January after he was found on the Stanford campus late in the night with an intoxicated woman. Turner reportedly took off running when he was discovered, but the two students who found him chased him down.
Turner pleaded not guilty to all charges. He admitted to police that he had sexual contact with the woman, but denied any allegations of rape. The Stanford Daily reports that Turner stood by his not guilty pleas in this month’s preliminary hearing.
Per The Stanford Daily, the victim recounted the afternoon and evening that led to the incident, but did not remember meeting Turner. She remembered meeting with the witness at a fraternity party, drinking during the party, going unconscious and eventually waking up in the hospital and having a rape kit used on her to gather evidence. The witness, however, did remember interacting with Turner at the frat party.
The hearing continued into the next day, and saw two of five charges against Turner dropped. The charges dropped:
- rape of an intoxicated person
- rape of an unconscious person
Turner is still being tried for three other charges:
- sexual penetration of an intoxicated woman
- sexual penetration of an unconscious woman
- assault with intent to commit rape
I’m a mother of a boy his age and former All-American athlete. There’s absolutely no excuse for his actions other than stupidity and this college culture that supports excessive drug and alcohol use. It’s rampant, as seen frequently. There’s also this hierarchy within teams, like the mens Stanford swimming program, that put these men on pedestals because they are considered “gods” by school officials! They put in hundreds of thousands of dollars into ONE athlete to whom they vet and it leads to a sense of entitlement of sorts.
The point I’m trying to make, this boy fell into this “hazing” like mentality, as a female athlete I was not eliminated from the same. Upper classman pushing alcohol beyond… Read more »
this is the best response I’ve seen on this subject. two kids, both young and stupid and drunk. one a sex offender for life with a “strike” against him for life. enough is enough. this recall madness is nothing more than the outrage train. Cecil the lion all over again.. it was the probation department (written by a female), that actually recommended the sentence (which judges typically abide to 99.9% of the time). what is going on with everyone?
1 Can anyone tell me precisely when the girl passed out?
2 Did the boy put “dirt and pine needles in her vagina” or is that the result of the drunken couples decision to have sex outside?
If he had the thought to go behind a dumpster so that they would be in “private,” then he wasn’t too drunk to discern that he could be “caught.” Innocent people don’t run and give different versions of events.
This Vanderbilt student was found guilty of rape of an unconscious woman and his sentence is MUCH longer
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/04/09/former-vanderbilt-football-player-found-guilty-of-raping-a-student-who-had-blacked-out/
Both athletes at good schools, both drunk at the time. The difference? Race, of course. The victim in Turner’s case noted that if the rapist had been another race or economic class, it is highly unlikely he would have only received 6 months.
I read the article you linked and there were a lot more differences than just race–multiple guys drugged a woman, filmed her while they were having sex with her, and then left her naked in a hallway.
I think it’s irrational to compare that to two drunk adults consensually leaving a party together and then winding up behind a dumpster where the woman passed out either before or during the man fingering her.
As I wrote earlier, people posting haven’t clarified whether they understand the differences between those two scenarios or they simply don’t care and refuse to distinguish between the level of severity of the behavior of the sexual offenders involved.
How can I sign the petition to remove Judge Aaron Persky from the Bench for his decision in the Brock Turner rape case?
GUILTY! Should have received WAY MORE TIME. RAPIST.
This is absolutely appalling!! Why would anyone support this kid??? I don’t care if he can swim or not!
This man is trash. He needs to get what he deserves and that is more time in prison. He shouldn’t be punished based on the notion that he’s a “good kid.” He did something VERY wrong and he needs to serve more than six months.
https://www.change.org/p/california-state-house-recall-judge-aaron-persky
It’s true. This man is sick. He suffers from a debilitating condition legally defined as Affluenza. It’s not his fault that he was brought up in upper middle class splendor with every conceivable societal advantage bestowed upon him.
He is the true victim here!
Affluenza, the lawyer without a good defenses’ best friend. Rape culture. There’s no justification for rape. Witnesses saw him raping her. Is what it is. Get over it.
I assume that post is sarcasm?
Very much so.
Yes, just like his Daddy said. Like father, like son.
He may not serve much prison time, but every time anybody anywhere ever googles “Brock Turner” they will get “rapist” “sex offender” and stories about this case.