Brian Banks, a former standout high school football player who spent five years in prison on rape charges that turned out to be false, criticized the 6-month sentence given to former Stanford swimmer Brock Turner, citing “a case of privilege.”
Banks spoke to The New York Daily News this week, recounting his experience and expressing his disagreement with the sentence in the Turner case.
Banks’ Story
Banks was 16 years old in 2002 when a 15-year-old girl falsely accused him of raping her. Facing up to 41 years in jail, Banks maintained his innocence, turning down plea deals for 25, 18 and 9 years.
According to a 60 Minutes interview from 2013, Banks’ lawyer was worried that Banks – an African American who played linebacker on the football field – wouldn’t get a fair trial from a jury.
So, as CBS News reports, the lawyer, also African-American, persuaded Banks to plead “no contest” to avoid the maximum sentence of 41 years. But a judge still sentenced Banks to 6 years
The New York Daily News reports that Banks ultimately served five years and two months in prison plus five more on parole.
The L.A. Times reports that in 2012, the girl who accused Banks met with him and admitted she had fabricated the story and that he hadn’t raped her. She refused to admit the lie in court (which would force her to return the $1.5 million she and her mother had won by suing the school where she alleged the rape had happened), but Banks secretly recorded the conversation. The recording was enough to get Banks’ conviction overturned and officially clear his name.
Banks’ Comments On Turner Case
Speaking in 2016, 12 years after he was falsely accused and 4 after he was cleared of wrongdoing, Banks told The New York Daily News that “privilege” played a role in the disparity between his sentence and Turner’s.
“I would say it’s a case of privilege,” Banks told The New York Daily News. “It seems like the judge based his decision on lifestyle. He’s lived such a good life and has never experienced anything serious in his life that would prepare him for prison. He was sheltered so much he wouldn’t be able to survive prison. What about the kid who has nothing, he struggles to eat, struggles to get a fair education? What about the kid who has no choice who he is born to and has drug-addicted parents or a non-parent household? Where is the consideration for them when they commit a crime?”
The Daily News goes on to compare the two cases briefly:
Turner didn’t have a criminal history. He is white. Banks didn’t have a criminal history, either, didn’t even have a speeding ticket. He is black. He was making out on his high school campus in Long Beach, Calif., with a 15-year old girl during the summer of 2002 and by the end of the day, she accused him of rape. To this day, Banks doesn’t know why.
…
Banks is “surprised” the courts found a way to consider Turner’s background and that “he wouldn’t know how to deal with career criminals.”
Nobody took that into consideration for Banks. He was just 16 and he was an innocent man. “You know a man is guilty, so why aren’t we unleashing half of the punishment that was unleashed on Brian Banks when he was innocent and there was no evidence?” he said. “They gave me six years. They gave him six months.”
Banks feels the female victim in the Turner case “has been totally ignored. She has to live with her hardship and tragedy for the rest of her life.”
Turner’s Mugshot Released
Courtesy of Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office.
In another addendum to the Turner story, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office released Turner’s official mugshot from the January 2015 incident this week. According to NBC News, media outlets had been requesting Turner’s police mugshot – which is a matter of public record under California law – for months, but to no avail.
NBC News says the sheriff’s office and Stanford University passed responsibility between them – the sheriff’s office maintained it was Stanford’s place to release any photos, while Stanford claimed its was the sheriff’s responsibility.
A freelance journalist named Diana Prichard eventually received two mugshot photos and posted them to Facebook. The first is at the top of this page, the second to the right of this section.
You can read more about the Brock Turner case here:
- Stanford freshman Brock Turner arrested after sexual assault allegations
- Brock Turner found guilty of sexual assault, sentencing in June
- Former Stanford swimmer Brock Turner sentenced to 6 months in jail
- Brock Turner ‘would not be eligible’ for USA Swimming membership
- Statements from Brock Turner’s father, victim spark outrage over sentence
Well, since she’s white, she’s obviously a racist. Therefore, her rape by a white male is far less traumatizing than had her assailant been black. Thereby, justifying a lesser charge.
I guess I’m naive, but I had no idea the abuse of alcohol was so pervasive at an elite university such as Stanford. I read Turner’s probation statement on the CBS News site, and it appears all this freshman has as role models were upperclassman swimmers also abusing alcohol.
Smh Dirty Dave
Does anybody find it outrageous that the young woman in the Bank’s case who admitted the whole story was a lie gets to keep 1.5 million dollars she won from the school system, and that there is no penalty she has to pay for telling a lie in court where you are supposed to tell “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth”? This is why the ‘justice system’ is a joke – the taxpayers got ripped off for $1.5 million, when I’m sure the school system needed that money for new books and materials. Her lie stole 5 years from that young man’s life – why doesn’t she have to spend at least weekends for the next… Read more »
Long Beach Schools sued Banks’ accuser and won a $2.6 million judgement. See: http://www.presstelegram.com/general-news/20130614/long-beach-unified-wins-judgment-against-accuser-in-false-rape-case-against-brian-banks
She ruined more than 10 years of his life. 5+ years in prison and then another 5 of parole. After release he had a felony record which permanently affects your ability to seek employment, get credit to buy a home or car and your ability to rent an apartment. This says nothing of the social sentencing of shame and contempt people have toward those convicted of crimes…particularly ones of a sexual violent nature or against minors. A social shaming conviction in some regards can be every bit as damaging to the human condition as incarceration.
And yes, unless a school district would like to litigate against Banks’ accuser for the ill gotten gains (very expensive) they would first handicap… Read more »
Should he not be able to have the false record expunged?
This article pins on the only thing that makes me embarrassed to be an American. So there, I admit it. Just awful for me to admit, but here is why:
Is there one example here of a young man who was guilty of being black above all else? Yes. Special bonus that he was also without means. State attorneys lick their chops in cases like this. The adjudication process becomes very clear to defendants — even ones who are really innocent and want to fight. The futility of the loaded process does become clear and a plea or entry of no contest is always the advised route. Banks had no opportunity to lodge a sophisticated defense, and in the end… Read more »
I agree, this isn’t a race issue and happens across the racial spectrum. Steven Avery is white and wrongfully convicted, maybe even twice, but was poor and not very bright.
Spot on. I mean, the Turner case blew up because the victim was able to write such an eloquent letter describing her outrage in a time of social media. She used writing, critical thinking, and debate skills that not everyone is fortunate enough to have (cough Mr Turner cough). I assume there wasn’t too much of a race/class difference between Brock Turner and the victim (I could be wrong), which only leaves a gender issue here. As long as there are social prejudices there will be legal prejudices as well, in any combination of or within class, race, and gender.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/01/opinion/joe-nocera-baylor-football-and-rape.html?_r=0
What about this story? Same sentencing but I didn’t see an uproar about it. I am completely against each sentencing, I believe they both should be locked up way longer.
Thank you for pointing this out. And this guys actually did rape someone. And is black and from Houston TX. How did that happen Swimguy12345?
Uh, Brock Turner raped someone, too.
(There’s a facebook meme and everything.)
JMan was referring to Brian Banks.
From what a teammate told me that swam on his club team, he’s not even rich. Very much middle class and probably on the lower side. He’s from Dayton, Ohio…by no means a flourishing city.
Brock got off because he’s white, smart, a good athlete and went to Stanford. I don’t think it’s as much socioeconomic status as it is because of those other things, specifically his race.
It’s easy to jump to conclusions and point to race and financial status as being the reason the two had different sentences, but the reality is no two cases are the same. Different set of circumstances in each of these cases and the reality is you run these two cases repeatedly through multiple trials and you’ll likely receive a different sentence each time.
They weren’t even the same charge. I’m assuming the football player mentioned in the article was convicted of rape while Turner was convicted of sexual assault with intent to commit rape, which, granted, is almost as bad.
Good article, good comparison, good on swimswam for posting.