D.A. proposing new legislation apparently inspired by Stanford sex assault case

Turner’s case sparked global outrage when he was given a six-month jail sentence – he’ll likely serve only three months – and three years of probation after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman in January 2015.

The case has sparked an outpouring of support for the victim, with her heartbreaking letter to Turner making the rounds on social media and among elected officials.

Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Alaleh Kianerci, who prosecuted the Turner case, will attend hearings in Sacramento next week to testify, Rosen said.

The uproar over the sentence, fueled in part by the victim’s harrowing letter in which she detailed the assault in graphic terms, comes amid growing outrage over sexual assault on USA college campuses. “The judge gave the wrong sentence, but he had the legal right to give it”.

Brock Turner was convicted in March of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman at a fraternity party in January 2015.

“We need to change the law to protect the next Emily Doe from the next Brock Turner,”‘ District Attorney Rosen said during a news event announcing the proposed legislation outside of the Palo Alto courthouse where Turner was tried and convicted. “What this law reflects is saying that sexually assaulting an unconscious person is as serious as sexually assaulting a conscious person and there should be no distinction between those because rape is rape”.

The minimum sentence Turner faced was two years in state prison, but the law allowed the judge, Aaron Persky, to give a lighter sentence if he believed it was an “unusual case where the interests of justice would best be served” by probation.

Democratic Assemblymen Bill Dodd of Napa and Evan Low of Campbell are the authors. “Rather than using robotic, one size fits all punishment schemes, we want judges, like Judge Persky, to engage in thoughtful, case by case, individualized determinations of the appropriate sentence for a particular crime and particular offender”. She implored Persky not to be lenient.

A change.org petition to have Judge Persky removed from his judgeship has nearly 100,000 supporters. In this case, Judge Persky is being demonized for following the recommendations of the Santa Clara County Probation Department.

Rosen said he is not supporting the recall campaign.

“Her letter left us a painful yet powerful gift that demands something more than just a few minutes of our time”, he said.

Brock Turner in court.