‘Stanford Rape’ Juror To Judge Aaron Persky: ‘Shame on You’
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
A juror in the Stanford University sexual assault case wrote to the judge expressing his disappointment over what was seen by many as a very lenient sentence handed down to former student-athlete Brock Turner.
Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky is facing a recall campaign following public anger over his decision to sentence Turner, 20, to six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman after a party.
The juror, who requested to remain anonymous, said he was disappointed and “vehemently” disagreed with the June 2 sentence, according to the letter, which was posted online late on Monday by the Palo Alto Weekly newspaper.
Prosecutors had sought a six-year prison term for Turner after he was convicted on three felony counts of sexual assault for the January 2015 attack.
“Justice has not been served,” the juror wrote to the judge. “I expected that this case would serve as a very strong deterrent to on-campus assaults but with the ridiculously lenient sentence, I am afraid that it makes a mockery of the whole trial.”
He concluded the letter to Persky with “shame on you.”
The Palo Alto Weekly said it met with the juror on Sunday and confirmed his identity.
The juror wrote that Turner’s conviction had been disregarded in an effort to spare the former member of the university’s swimming team a “hardship,” while the court’s concern should instead have been for the victim.
The juror said he recently became a U.S. citizen after 30 years of living in the United States and that the case was the first time he had served on a jury. He is the only one of 12 jurors to make a public statement about the case.
Turner’s sentencing drew criticism after the publication of a letter the victim read in court, detailing the devastation she felt from the assault by him.
A Stanford law professor is leading a drive on the California campus to gather signatures for a petition to remove Persky.
Some graduating students carried signs at their commencement on Sunday, decrying the sentence handed to Turner.
Persky is prohibited from commenting on the case because Turner is appealing his conviction, a spokesman for Santa Clara County Superior Court has said.
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