During an appeals hearing Tuesday, the attorney forBrock Turner,the former Stanford Universityswimmer convicted of sexually assaultingan unconscious woman, claims his client was fully clothed during the 2015 attack and only engaged in what the lawyer called “sexual outercourse.”
Eric S. Multhaup went before a panel of judges anddefined “outercourse”as sexual activity while clothed that can be considered a form of safe sex, claiming that Turner, 22,didn’t intend to rapethe victim, according to theSan FranciscoChronicleandNBC News.
The Associated Press reports that the judges appeared skeptical of the claim.
“I absolutely don’t understand what you are talking about,” Justice Franklin D. Elia said. Elia added that the law “requires the jury verdict to be honored.”
In March 2016, Turner was found guilty of three felonies for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman outside an on-campus fraternity party in January 2015.
During the trial, Turner admitted to having sexual contact with the woman but claimed it was consensual.
The case garnered national attention, and sparked outrage, whenJudge Aaron Perskysentenced Turner to six months in county jail — after prosecutors asked for six years — holding that a lengthy sentence would have a “severe impact”on him. Three months after Turner began his sentence, he wasreleased from jail.
Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office
During the hearing Tuesday, Multhaup discussed the victim’s alcohol consumption the night of the attack. He also claimed that the jury used their “imagination” during deliberation andhad “filled in the blanks”about what happened,Palo Alto Weeklyreports.
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In response to Multhaup’s claims, Assistant Attorney General Alisha Carlile argued Multhaup was presenting a “farfetched version of events” of what actually took place that night.
The panel has90 days to decide ontheir ruling, according to the Associated Press.
“Even if the sentence is light, hopefully this will wake people up,” she wrote. “I want the judge to know that he ignited a tiny fire. If anything, this is a reason for all of us to speak louder.”
Turner was convicted 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.
He will remain a register sex offender for the rest of his life because of the rape charge, theChroniclereports.
Multhaup could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
In June, Santa Clara voters recalled Persky from his seat on the Superior Court. It was the first time in 80 years that a California judge had been recalled,Palo Alto Weeklyreports.
source: people.com
