Lawyers for the Stanford University student convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman on campus have filed a shocking argument appealing his sentence.
Brock Turner completed only half of the six-month jail term he was handed in 2016 before being released on good behaviour.
But now, the registered sex offender wants his conviction overturned and is requesting a new trial, with his argument for appeal detailed in an extraordinary 172-page document that focuses largely on how drunk the victim was on the night of the attack.
Reportedly, 60 pages of the appeal detail the 22-year-old woman, known as ‘Emily Doe’, state of intoxication.
Turner was charged after two fellow Stanford students witnessed the assault taking place in January 2015. Turner was 19 at the time.
In the appeal, lawyers for Turner argue their client was denied due process during his trial and called it ‘fundamentally unfair’.
As well as focusing on the victim’s alcohol intake, the key to Turner’s request for a new trial is the statement the prosecutor was said to have made repeatedly during the trial, saying the assault occurred ‘behind the dumpster’.
Turner’s lawyers are arguing that the assault did not happen ‘behind the dumpster’, but near one.
In a statement released on Saturday, the Santa Clara County district attorney Jeff Rosen said Turner ‘received a fair trial and was justly convicted’.
‘His conviction will be upheld. Nothing can ever roll back Emily Doe’s legacy of raising the world’s awareness about sexual assault.’
This article originally appeared on New Idea.
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