I wish some of these women supporting the criminal here would take a few moments to imagine, really imagine being this young lady. Waking up in an ER, discovering your panties are missing, having the police, nurses, etc. reconstruct what had happened…think about, really think about a complete stranger having you in that position and really imagine the actual physical assault to your (unconscious) genitals!! How the h-e double hockey sticks can anyone think HE should be coddled here? This just makes me sick. Seriously, the thought makes me get that lump in my throat of pure disgust.
We have wide disparities in sentencing in this country, for lots of reasons. Some of those reasons are good, some are bad. I think it’s important to remember that the judge imposed the sentence recommended by the probation report.
I have to say that I don’t want judges to be influenced in their decisions by what the public might think about it. Indeed, I’m against the idea of elected judges for just this reason.
@nottelling Yes, you’re right, and that’s important to note. CNN has a copy of the probation report and has quoted from it. I’m not sure how they got it. Maybe a FOIA request and they got a redacted copy? I haven’t read the probation report.
The victim stated that she never met the witnesses. Is this because perhaps they had returned to Sweden and didn’t testify in person?
If his family had the money to pay for good lawyers who could whittle down the sentence, that would be a “privilege” of high SES background.
Also, a judge is likely to be high SES, and may have felt more commonality and sympathy to a high SES defendant than a low or middle SES defendant.
@hunt – This guy is an elected judge. And I know about sentencing disparities, and also what is common in CA. this is not common, even though judges in CA have wide discretion. Interestingly, in the federal system where judges are not elected, there are mandatory minimums and sentencing discretion is limited.
Is there a process of appealing that doesn’t involve re-victimizing the survivor? She shouldn’t have to go through this again.
@greenwitch I too feel like this is all a joke. Like there can’t be that many people in one group who are that out of touch with reality.
When I read the letters from the father and friend, it’s almost as if deep down, they can recognize how stupid they sound. They distance themselves from the rape, the trauma for the victim, and just make it seem as though they are talking about something short action or small event that took place. Because if they mention the victim and the gravity of what actually happened, they will realize that they sound absolutely ridiculous.
I thought the letter coming from one of Turner’s females friends was especially ridiculous. Most people are raped by someone that they know. Brock raping a stranger is actually fairly rare. The woman who wrote the letter is statistically more at risk of being assaulted by Brock than anyone who doesn’t know him!
I think it’s also absurd to use first offense as a reason for a light sentence. You don’t get leniency for your first murder, your first school shooting, your first kidnapping. Why should you get leniency for your first violent sexual assault. I think @romanigypsyeyes mentioned previously that rape is probably the most violent thing someone can experience. I agree. There’s no other crime out there that has that life long impact on a victim. Robbery? No. Assault? No. The only thing I can think of is kidnapping and that’s because kidnapping frequently includes repeated sexual trauma, which brings me back to rape being the most violent and traumatic crime.
“Dad is a civilian contractor for the Air Force; Mom is a surgery nurse. They are definitely affluent, upper middle class people, in a high socio-economic bracket (both college educated, for example). They paid for a private defense attorney. They have engaged one of the top criminal attorneys in the state (Dennis Riordan) for the appeal.”
I would hire the top criminal defense attorney in my state, too, if God forbid it were my kid. Who wouldn’t?? That’s not damning. And they hardly sound like the hedge-fund class.
Make no mistake, I’m not excusing one bit of his crime. But portraying him as Richie Rich seems over the top.
There is a big difference between 3 months and 3 years in jail and I believe that a sentence of 3 years would certainly help him accept responsibility. I think the law professor is spot on in her analysis of the sentencing requirements and what the punishment should have been. The sentencing guidelines would have suggested a minimum of 3 years in jail/prison not 6 months. As she points out, he would have been 21 to 23 years old when he got out and still have plenty of time to rehabilitate and redeem himself.
Hunt: what are the circumstance here that suggest the sentencing guidelines should not have been followed?
I don’t think he will be unemployable forever and I don’t think he should be (nor should most felons). He did a terrible thing and should pay a very steep price, but there has to be a path back. I believe some are finally recognizing that not all felons are the same and not all should be perpetually unemployable. That is just the path back to a life of no hope and to crime.
“There was that FB site, Brock for the Olympics 2016, that some people thought was satire but it sounds an awful lot like these letters and was around before these letters were made public. And, the site was taken down, which seems to indicate that it was NOT satire.”
Am on phone so can’t find the link, but there was an interview with the author of the site who was having a little fun (so to speak) and did not have any connection to the Turner family. Between that and believing a faux news article that the prison was going to build an Olympic size swimming pool - let’s not let our outrage make us stupid.
“I think it’s also absurd to use first offense as a reason for a light sentence. You don’t get leniency for your first murder, your first school shooting, your first kidnapping. Why should you get leniency for your first violent sexual assault.”
How about first possession-of-alcohol-by-a-minor? Or first pot bust? I bet a lot of college students feel there should be plenty of leniency for those things!
Former NFL player Brian Banks, who spent 6 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted has spoken out.
Banks, who is from Long Beach, California, also had no priors. Not even a speeding ticket.
“If his family had the money to pay for good lawyers who could whittle down the sentence, that would be a “privilege” of high SES background.”
Name me a person on here who wouldn’t spend whatever they could afford on a lawyer for their kid.
@Pizzagirl I never said he was Richie Rich. You don’t have to be hedge fund wealthy to be among the privileged or the upper middle class, especially in the criminal justice system. They are definitely affluent. The fact that they have assets to pay for excellent criminal defense shows that - even if they are mortgaging a home or using retirement, they have assets.
re: 359 In my state and in many others the sentencing for sexually molesting a minor or child are far, far more severe - can be life in prison in Michigan. It would not be apples to apples to compare what happened in this case to a child molestation case. In some small way cases like this that are high-profile in the media help to educate the public and spur discussion but the reality is, there is, in most states, lines and lines and lines of legalese that differentiate criminal sexual contact including at the most general level: age and brutality of the crime with regard to use of force or weapon. I had a hard as heck time finding any media coverage and ensuing sentence for a first offense similar case yesterday when I was posting…plenty of long jail sentences for child molesters and multiple occurrence offenders.
I also do not want judges to be influenced in their decision by what the public might think about a singular case. It has been pointed out numerous times that this judge was experienced with sexual assault cases and doubtless has seen the sentences from other judges and the outcomes of decisions over time.
I find it very disgusting that the public has taken it upon themselves to attack the family, unfortunately there is no restraint in what people will spout out anonymously and what our sad state of media rags and blogs will publish. His siblings and parents are now forever encapsulated and characterized in Google archives and search results.
Lions mum - sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that you were characterizing him as Richie Rich. Some blogs etc were.
My mom would’ve dragged my ass to jail herself (not that I would commit such a heinous crime). There is loving, then there is enabling. This is the latter.
I agree and so many of the millennials want to work for themselves. He can always take that route. And I am also willing to bet that with all the support he seems to have in Dayton, he would be employable there as well. I read that Jack Montague, the basketball player, is working. There is always going to be a network that wants to take care of these guys.
And if you look at the number of attorneys marketing services for removal from the sex offenders list, I don’t believe he will be registered “for life” either. Time consuming and difficult process but it seems that it’s being accomplished.
Yeah, it seems harsh. But they DID write those words about ribeye steak, promiscuity and political correctness. Had any one of them said something more like, “he did something terribly, terribly wrong but I know he can make amends, turn his life around, and never victimize anyone ever again”, it wouldn’t be such a pile on.
Also I remember a case on Oprah, where the accused was a black, adopted guy. It was a he-said, she-said situation. He got twenty years, though his sentence was later over turned as the girl was lying. This sentence, regardless of whether it’s the norm, is a slap in the face of every sexual assault victim and serves to prove that rape is indeed an entitlement for some.