‘Stanford Rape’ Judge Yanked From New Sex Case Amid Outcry
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
The California judge facing criticism over his sentencing of a former Stanford University swimmer convicted of sexual assault was removed on Tuesday from a new sexual assault case after complaints by prosecutors, officials said.
“We lack confidence that Judge (Aaron) Persky can fairly participate in this upcoming hearing in which a male nurse sexually assaulted an anesthetized female patient,” Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement. He called the move “rare and carefully considered.”
Rosen cited the six-month jail sentence Persky handed down to Brock Turner, 20, earlier this month following the former swimmer’s conviction for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman after a party in January 2015. Prosecutors sought a six-year prison term.
Turner was convicted of assault with intent to commit rape, penetration of an intoxicated and unconscious person. Under California law, those charges are not considered rape because they did not involve penile penetration.
Stacey Capps, chief trial deputy for the District Attorney’s office, said the new case was reassigned to another judge and a hearing was held on Tuesday afternoon. She said that the victim was “particularly vulnerable” factored into the move.
Capps said in the new case, Cecil Webb stands accused of touching the vagina and breast of a woman who was anesthetized ahead of a surgery at a Santa Clara hospital in November 2014.
Webb has pleaded not guilty and his attorney could not be immediately reached for comment.
A juror in the Stanford University sexual assault case wrote to Judge Persky saying 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.
“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,” the juror wrote, concluding the letter with “shame on you.”
Persky is prohibited from commenting on the case because Turner is appealing his conviction, a spokesman for Santa Clara County Superior Court has said.
Turner’s sentencing drew criticism after the publication of a letter the victim read in court, detailing the devastation she felt from the assault. A Stanford law professor is leading a drive to gather signatures for a petition to remove Persky.—Reuters
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
