Convicted Sex Offender and Former Stanford Swimming Prodigy Brock Turner Files Appeal to Overturn Conviction
Convicted sex offender Brock Turner is appealing to overturn his conviction.
It has been revealed that Brock Turner, the former Stanford student and swimmer who had been convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman while on campus, is appealing to overturn his conviction asking for a new trial. Aaron Persky, the Santa Clara County superior court judge who had convicted Turner had garnered intense widespread criticism when he sentenced the then-20-year-old to six months in jail and three years probation.
On Friday, Turner filed the 172-page request reasoning that the prosecutor had lied to the jurors, saying that the sexual assault occurred behind a dumpster, which is a reasonable cause of prosecutorial misconduct. According to his argument, this false information had made it seem that the convicted sex offender was trying to hide what he was doing. Furthermore, the argument also claimed that Persky had deprived Turner of a fair trial when he decided to exclude testimony from character witnesses as well as failing to instruct the jurors to consider lesser charges.
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This development comes a year after Turner's widely publicized conviction, which drew the ire of many accusing the justice system of unfair treatment of rape victims especially since the former star swimmer could have gotten a maximum of 14 years instead of his six month jail time. His conviction includes three counts of felonies including assault with intent of rape as well as sexually penetrating an unconscious victim with a foreign object.
With his appeal, Turner is also risking another conviction would be possible once granted by California's Sixth District Court of Appeals. When this happens a different judge would be presiding over the case.
However, despite his appeal, the Santa Clara County District Attorney is adamant that Turner had received a fair trial saying, "His conviction will be upheld. Nothing can ever roll back Emily Doe's legacy of raising the world's awareness about sexual assault."
