Was Brock offered a plea deal?
@GnocchiB, I have no idea. But I did get the sense from the victim’s profoundly inspiring letter that she would have preferred to handle it quietly. In a way, I’m glad she didn’t get the chance because her journey, now made so public, will be more helpful to many than her silence would have been.
I guess a pitbull puppy is worth 4 1/2 years more than a young woman.
I know different state.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/09/20/puppy-rapist-sentence/15984325/
^ Kind of puts it all in perspective.
Alh, no, to the best of my knowledge no one in my family has been assaulted or charged with assault. But criminal law is an area that interests me and I have close friends who are “in the system” either as judges or lawyers so the latest scuttlebutt is a typical social evening conversation much to my husband’s dismay. You think this one’s bad, a judge in our state just gave probation to a guy for sexual assault of a minor, second offense…he got probation.That community was in an uproar for about a week and my high school classmate probably wishes he wouldn’t have been assigned that case. I’m an advocate for throwing away the key for someone after they get their chance at redemption. For the record, I will never be a lock em up and throw away the key type for a stable person with no previous offenses whatsoever and I don’t believe in the death penalty or at least until our country focuses more on rehabilitation and less on retribution in which case I might be swayed that harsher sentences are good for society. Right now, not so much.
Many of you hate the fact that I postulate that if this kid wasn’t drinking this might not have occurred and that if she hadn’t been drunk this might not have occurred. But that’s the reality and the setting for this crime…and the legal system deals in realities, every single hour of every single day and it spills over into the evenings and the weekends. This wasn’t a made for TV movie to be held up as a reason the system doesn’t work. The system worked here…the TV movie just didn’t end up with this kid rotting in a prison until he’s in his thirties and then becoming dependent on the taxpayers for unemployment and social assistance.
I don’t think we can say yet if the system really worked in this case.
Well, the rapist could have killed the victim too if nobody discovered what the rapist was doing. So, if we are talking about could have-would have, we might as well have thrown the guy in jail for life. He could be a murderer when drunk.
Except for federal drug offenses with mandatory sentencing guidelines, I think you will find a whole range of sentences for the same, or similar, crimes even within the same state. I’m not a big fan of the registry because it can make it really difficulty for people to find housing and jobs after prison, which doesn’t help with reintegrating into society. However, the sentence should have been longer. Had he plead guilty and shown real understanding and remorse for his crime, maybe a year or two would have sufficed. But forcibly penetrating an unconscious woman should not get six months. To put it into perspective, a youngish black man was fairly recently put to death in Texas for accidentally killing a police office (hit him with his car) while trying to avoid getting caught with drugs. I saw him interviewed on 60 Minutes before his execution and he was remarkably accepting of his fate. He was genuinely remorseful for what he had done and thought that his death make bring finality and some peace to the police officer’s widow and other family members. He also thought that it would be best for his young son to not grow up visiting his father in jail. Our criminal justice system is fraught with inequities – based on race and economic status of the criminal, race of the victim, nature of the crime, happenstance of the jurisdiction, quality of one’s attorney, etc. Had this poor victim’s assailant been a poor black man, the sentence would undoubtedly have been different.
" In a way, I’m glad she didn’t get the chance because her journey, now made so public, will be more helpful to many than her silence would have been."
While I can see why you might think this will be helpful to others , I really doubt it will. More likely less women will come forward. The rape exam alone sounded like more like a second assault on her. I sure as heck wouldn’t want to go through that exam if I was assaulted.
This case, and the Vanderbilt case - it’s a miracle the women found out what happened to them. Men who do this probably aren’t caught on tape, or stopped by bystanders that often. We need good guy bystanders. If we teach our sons that, I think we are going to be okay. I am pretty sure many of our sons already got that message.
I can’t say I think the system worked in this case when he still doesn’t admit he did anything wrong except drink too much. And he proposes to go on a speaking tour.
And just last week we were all up in arms over a gorilla.
Linking Stanford Law Professor Michelle Landis Dauber’s letter to the Judge submitted pre-sentencing. Gives a good analysis of why she believes the California Penal Code does not support any deviation from the statutory guidelines. She knows the victim and her family well. It’s a long letter, so some highlights for those who do not want to commit the time.
She cites sections of the California Penal Code which states a defendant can only receive probation or a lesser sentence if the court finds his case to be “unusual.” Factors to be considered include whether the crime is **“substantially less serious” ** than circumstances typically present in other cases and the defendant’s youth or lack of criminal record. She then goes on to state why such a finding does not meet those standards in this case:
[quote]
With respect to the specific deterrence of Turner, in my view it would be a mistake to make an exception for him. As an elite college athlete, Turner is someone who has benefitted from many advantage in his life. He has a loving and supportive family; it is of course upsetting to see the pain he has caused them. **But these are not advantages that justify leniency. If anything, they suggest that he is entitled to less lattitude than someone who was born into poverty, gangs and drugs …Turner had every advantage in life and squandered it. A grant of probation will likely serve to reinforce the message that the ordinary rules do not apply./b
The public is urging to remove the judge and review the case.
https://www.change.org/p/california-state-house-recall-judge-aaron-persky#delivered-to
Very interesting and persuasive letter by the Stanford Law Professor. For those asking what the “experts” think a reasonable sentence would be, it is worth noting that this law professor, who apparently specializes in criminal law and is a friend of the victim, argues for a 2 to 3 year sentence.
The California Penal Code lists the penalty for rape as 3, 6, or 8 years in prison. This is the same penalty as the penalty listed for sexual penetration of unconscious and intoxicated victim that Turner was convicted of. (Based on the laws and the penalties, he was convicted of a crime that, to most people, is functionally equivalent to rape, even though it is not called “rape”.)
Note that he was also convicted of assault with intent to commit rape or sexual penetration, which has a penalty of 2, 4, or 6 years.
re: 293 Maybe colleges and universities should do more like this law professor’s victim impact statement instead of trying to prosecute these things themselves. This kid didn’t get expelled, he got found guilty in a court of law. Maybe law professors and others can actually get their hands down and dirty with the “real” system for dealing with college age sexual assaults and sentencing guidelines. Can no one see the irony of supporters of colleges handling these things on their own vs. colleges advocating for victims of crimes and trying to add value to the existing system. In the end an exception was not made for Turner…he was found guilty and did receive jail time as opposed to only probation along with a life sentence of the sex registry instead of being expelled. Seriously, there was every possibility that he could have gotten probation, the prosecutorsk new this, the defense attorney knew this, the judge knew this… something that clearly the general public does not understand by their disbelief of the sentence.
Effectively a minimum of 3 years, if the statutory guidelines are followed and the sentences are served concurrently. The two sexual penetration charges have 3 year minimums, while the assault with intent to commit rape or sexual penetration charge has a 2 year minimum.
I know someone who was accused of a somewhat similar crime (adult). He pled guilty to several charges and is serving a fairly long sentence. He gave no excuse in court, told the judge he did not excuse his own behavior, and apologized to his victim. I have some respect for his willingness to own up to what he did and apologize, instead of blaming everyone else and whining. He will also be on the sex offender registry for life. Just because this Stanford guy is on the registry is NOT a reason for him to get a light sentence.
Unfortunately, as this case shows, we really have two justice systems in this country – one for people who can afford high priced lawyers and are willing to pay try to escape responsibility for their actions, and one for the rest of us.