SAN JOSE — Brock Turner’s scheduled early release Friday after three months in jail is expected to be met by boisterous demonstrators outside the jailhouse doors, flanked by billboard-toting bicyclists lambasting the judge and the light sentence he gave the former Stanford swimmer for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman.
The theatrics are part of continuing efforts to recall Judge Aaron Persky from the bench and maintain momentum for a national discussion revolving around the seriousness with which college rape is treated and the role of wealth and privilege in the criminal justice system.
Turner’s release, after serving half of his six-month sentence in the Santa Clara County Main Jail, was not a surprise given his lack of prior criminal history. But critics say the symbolic impact of what has been widely viewed as a lenient punishment will last well beyond when Turner returns to his native Ohio.
“It’s widely expected but doesn’t mean it’s any less outrageous,” said Karin Roland, chief campaigns officer for the women’s advocacy group UltraViolet. “It’s absolutely horrifying that, despite overwhelming evidence, Judge Persky let him go free with really a slap on the wrist, and the woman will live with that for the rest of her life.”
Turner’s attorney, Mike Armstrong, could not be immediately reached for comment.
As part of the Friday rally, Ultraviolet has hired three bicyclists to circle the jail and courthouse complex carrying billboards reading: “Thanks to Judge Persky, Brock Turner Served Just 3 Months in Jail.”
Anticipating what could be a large protest crowd on a relatively narrow sidewalk area and safety concerns for both them and Turner given the high profile of the case, officials with the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office are evaluating whether additional security will be on hand. The Sheriff’s Office operates the county jails.
Turner could be released as early as 12:01 a.m. Friday, but typically the jail doesn’t release prisoners until daylight. His three-year probation term has been transferred to Ohio, where he is a native of Oakwood, a suburb south of Dayton. He will also be required to register as a sex offender soon after he arrives, and complete a sex offender management program.
Legal analyst Steven Clark said Turner’s life will likely be closely scrutinized, even though he moves back home.
“Because of his notoriety, Turner will have the whole community as his probation officer,” he said. “Any violation may land him back in front of a judge, where he then could face a stiff prison sentence.”
Turner was convicted in March of assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated woman, sexually penetrating an intoxicated person with a foreign object, and sexually penetrating an unconscious person with a foreign object. In the Jan. 18, 2015 encounter, he was seen thrusting his hips atop an unconscious, partially clothed woman outside the Kappa Alpha fraternity. Two Stanford graduate students who were bicycling by called police and chased down Turner.
Persky’s decision to sentence Turner to six months in county jail rather than a prison term drew national outcry and protests of the judge, eventually spurring his request to transfer from criminal to civil court, set to take effect in September.
“It’s very hard to see how (Turner) was held accountable for three serious sex-crime felonies,” said Michele Dauber, a Stanford law professor spearheading the campaign to recall Persky.
Dauber and other Persky critics contend their research shows a pattern of sympathy for sexual-assault defendants that warrant his removal.
“Women look at these cases, they are seeing something quite different from what Judge Persky sees,” Dauber said. “He sees good college boys who got drunk and made a mistake.”
Prosecutors also protested Turner’s sentence after they recommended he serve six years in state prison. After the sentencing, Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen wrote Assembly Bill 2888, which would prohibit probation in cases like Turner’s, effectively requiring jail time for anyone convicted of rape or sexual assault of an unconscious or intoxicated person. The bill, carried by three Bay Area lawmakers, cleared the state Assembly this week.
Currently, California law treats sexual assault of a conscious person as a more severe crime than attacking an unconscious person. Turner’s case, and the gripping testimonial his victim read in court and later published online, drew national attention to the disparity.
Roland noted that Turner’s three months in custody were “more than the 97 percent of rapists who don’t spend a single day in jail,” an allusion to widespread underreporting of rape, especially on college campuses.
“Until the system finds a way to actually pursue these cases, we won’t see reporting rates go up,” she said. “Most women feel the justice system doesn’t take rape seriously.”
Contact Robert Salonga at 408-920-5002. Follow him at Twitter.com/robertsalonga.
