People v. Turner

People v. Turner
CourtSuperior Court of the State of California for and in the County of Santa Clara
Full case name The People of the State of California v. Brock Allen Turner
IndictmentJanuary 28, 2015, on counts:
1.) rape of an intoxicated person, in violation of California Penal Code § 261(a)(3)
2.) rape of an unconscious person, in violation of PC § 261(a)(4)
3.) sexual penetration of an unconscious person, in violation of PC § 289(d)
4.) sexual penetration of an intoxicated person, in violation of PC § 289(e)
5.) assault with intent to commit rape, in violation of PC § 220(a)(1)
StartedMarch 14, 2016
DecidedMarch 30, 2016
VerdictCount 1.) Withdrawn by prosecution[1]
Count 2.) Withdrawn by prosecution[1]
Count 3.) Guilty
Count 4.) Guilty
Count 5.) Guilty
DefendantBrock Allen Turner
Outcome
Turner was sentenced on June 2, 2016, to six months' incarceration in the Santa Clara County jail to be followed by three years of probation. He was released three months early. Additionally, Turner must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and participate in a sex offender rehabilitation program.
Court membership
Judge sittingAaron Persky
Keywords

People v. Turner, formally The People of the State of California v. Brock Allen Turner (2015), was a criminal case in which Brock Allen Turner was convicted by jury trial of three counts of felony sexual assault.[2][3]

On January 18, 2015, on the Stanford University campus, Turner, then a 19-year-old student athlete at Stanford, sexually assaulted 22-year-old Chanel Miller (referred to in court documents as "Emily Doe") while she was unconscious.[4][5][6][1] Two graduate students intervened and held Turner in place until police arrived.[1][7] Turner was arrested and released the same day after posting $150,000 bail.[8][9][10]

Turner was initially indicted on five charges: two for rape, two for felony sexual assault, and one for attempted rape,[10] although the two rape charges were later withdrawn.[1] On February 2, 2015, Turner pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.[11] The trial concluded on March 30, 2016, with Turner convicted of three charges of felony sexual assault.[2][3] On June 2, 2016, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky sentenced Turner to six months in jail followed by three years of probation. Additionally, Turner was obliged to register as a sex offender for life[12] and to complete a rehabilitation program for sex offenders.[3]

On September 2, 2016, Turner was released after serving three months, which was half of his sentence, for good behavior.[13] Turner filed an appeal of his conviction and sentence in 2017, but it was denied.[14][15]

Chanel Miller's victim impact statement to the court, on June 2, 2016, was widely disseminated by international media outlets.[16] There was also widespread criticism of what was seen as a light sentence given by Judge Persky, and he was recalled by county voters in June 2018.[17][18][19] The case influenced the California legislature to require prison terms for rapists whose victims were unconscious, and to include digital penetration in the definition of rape.[20][21] In September 2019, Miller relinquished her anonymity and released an autobiography entitled Know My Name: A Memoir in which she discusses the assault, trial, and aftermath.[22][23][24]

  1. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference Miller was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Fimrite was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference StanfordDaily6.2.16 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Kadvany, Elena (March 18, 2016). "Alleged victim testifies in Brock Turner trial". Palo Alto Online. Archived from the original on March 28, 2016. The 23-year-old woman whom former Stanford University student Brock Turner allegedly sexually assaulted on campus in the early hours of January 18, 2015, testified Friday afternoon in Palo Alto that she had no memory of the incident.
  5. ^ Kadvany, Elena (October 5, 2015). "Woman in Stanford sexual-assault case testifies". PaloAltoOnline.com. Archived from the original on October 9, 2015. Deputy District Attorney Alaleh Kianerci, who works with the county's sexual-assault unit, questioned "Emily Doe" for about an hour at the Palo Alto Courthouse on Monday, as well as two other witnesses – Doe's sister, and one of the graduate students who intervened that night, Peter Jonsson.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference MercuryMar22 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Herhold, Scott (March 21, 2016). "Herhold: Thanking two Stanford students who subdued campus sex assault suspect". San José Mercury News. Archived from the original on September 11, 2016. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference AutoMQ-3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  10. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference ABC Timeline was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference KaplanFeb was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference ESPN1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Emanuella Grinberg; Catherine E. Shoichet (September 2, 2016). "Brock Turner released after 3 months in jail". CNN. Retrieved March 11, 2020.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference Trash was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference appealnytime was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  19. ^ "Northern California Judge Aaron Persky recalled from office for sexual assault sentence critics called too lenient". Associated Press. June 6, 2018. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference Calefati was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference USATODAYBillSign was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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