None of the names of the predominantly male jury in the sexual assault trial of Brock Turner have been revealed, however we are now hearing from the first of those jurors to speak publicly, a man who delivered a letter Saturday to embattled Judge Aaron Persky decrying what he saw as a "ridiculously lenient" sentence after what he felt was a clear verdict.
Palo Alto Weekly obtained a copy of the letter and interviewed the juror to confirm his identity and juror badge, and it says, in part, "After the guilty verdict I expected that this case would serve as a very strong deterrent to on-campus assaults, but with the ridiculously lenient sentence that Brock Turner received, I am afraid that it makes a mockery of the whole trial and the ability of the justice system to protect victims of assault and rape."
As the Chronicle notes, the juror did not want his name connected to what has now become a nationally publicized case, and that unlike in some states, jurors' identities are not typically revealed after a verdict is reached.
The anonymous juror is a recently naturalized US citizen who has lived here 30 years, and this was just his first time serving on a jury. Further, he wrote, "It seems to me that you really did not accept the jury's findings. We were unanimous in our finding of the defendant's guilt and our verdicts were marginalized based on your own personal opinion... Clearly there are few to no consequences for a rapist even if they are caught in the act of assaulting a defenseless, unconscious person... Shame on you."
The juror explained to the Weekly that the most compelling pieces of evidence for him were a voicemail that was played in court left for her boyfriend by the victim, who's now being called Emily Doe, sounding audibly very intoxicated while she was still at the party from which she later left with Turner. Also, the juror said, the fact that Turner tried to run away when he was confronted by the two Swedish students who caught him in the act, pointed to his absolute guilt.
Meanwhile, a widely circulated Change.org petition calling for the impeachment of Persky has now gained over 1.2 million signatures.
During commencement events over the last weekend, many Stanford students showed solidarity with the victim holding signs saying things like "Rape Is Rape." And as KQED reports, several female lawmakers in the California legislature spoke about the case, and two Assemblywomen have introduced a bill that would expand the definition of rape from "nonconsensual intercourse" to include penetration with a foreign object. Says Assemblywoman Susan Eggman, “I think as we continue to see this woman-shaming, woman-blaming for your own assault, it’s really time to take a stand and say, why shouldn’t rapists be labeled rapists?”
