You don’t know me, but the sentence you gave to Brock Turner for those 3 felony charges, embarrassed me. It embarrassed me to be associated with a criminal justice system that can give such a light sentence for 3 felony convictions. As a future lawyer, it enraged me to think that someone who studied the same law that I will one day, could come to such a different conclusion about Brock Turner. No, I wasn’t at his trial. No, I didn’t see all the evidence presented by the prosecution and the defense. However, I did read the victim’s letter. I have read every article I could find on this case. Justice is meant to be blind. Justice is supposed to be a deterrent. Justice is supposed to give victim’s peace of mind that the wrong(s) done to them have been righted, to an extent. I have seen marijuana charges be sentenced more harshly than what you gave to Brock.
All that you did for him was to reaffirm what he has repeatedly been told by his family; “It’s alright” His father called it “20 minutes of action” in his letter to you. His mother talked about how her life, her husband’s life and her son’s life are forever altered. They didn’t mention one word about the victim’s life. Brock Turner’s father later said that the VICTIM should have been punished for being a slut. This is someone who grew up with financial means, attended a prestigious school, and was an Olympic swim team hopeful. None of that should have mattered after he committed his crimes. The only thing that should have mattered was the crimes that he committed, and the fact that he never took responsibility for his actions; He would only admit to drinking too much alcohol. You said at the sentencing hearing that prison would have an adverse effect on Brock. An adverse effect on a sex offender. Please, take a minute to think about that again. You are concerned about the adverse effects on a rapist, rather than the adverse effects on his victim.
Brock Turner is no longer the star swimmer and Stanford student. He is now a convicted rapist. His victim said it best, when she addressed him initially in her impact letter, “You don’t know me, but you have been inside me”
That is all she should have needed to say, in order for you to give him the sentence that the prosecutor asked for. Instead, you showed concern for the offender, who broke the law knowing what he was doing was not only wrong, but a crime. A crime of moral turpitude, I might add. You sent a message when you handed down that sentence. You told college aged men that getting a woman drunk to the point of unconsciousness and then sexually assaulting her was/is something to be taken lightly. Defense attorneys can now cite this case in an attempt to get their client a lighter sentence. I’ve heard that Brock intends to appeal his case. I hope that the Appellate court’s remand the case back down to the trial courts for a harsher sentence. I do hope that you receive some sort of sanctions for that sentence. His victim deserves proper justice.
