Stanford rape case judge could be recalled - but not before November 2017

Michele Dauber, the woman behind the movement to remove the judge in the Stanford rape case, spoke to The Independent

More than a million people have signed petitions to recall the judge (Jason Doiy, AP)

A large movement is underway to recall the judge who ruled in the Stanford rape case but the earliest this could happen is November 2017, according to Stanford law professor Michele Dauber.

The woman chairing the campaign to recall judge Aaron Persky, a white Stanford alumnus who sentenced Stanford student and athlete Brock Turner to six months behind bars for sexually assaulting an unconscious and intoxicated woman behind a dumpster, told The Independent that she is “100 per cent confident” their movement will succeed.

She said that after they undergo the legal process of collecting signatures, petitioning and asking Californians to vote on whether or not the judge should be recused, it will take until at least late next year before the judge could be recalled.

Judge Persky has just been re-elected for another term, as he ran unopposed for the position, and Ms Dauber said the only way to challenge his authority on the Brock Turner case before the next election in 2022 is “to act now”.

Asked whether Ms Dauber is concerned that the judge, who appeared to sympathize with Mr Turner, would rule similarly on other sexual assault cases, she replied: “Yes, that worries me.”

The judge was removed from a similar sexual assault case this month after Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen quoted the prosecutor's “lack of confidence that judge Persky can fairly participate".

Under the state of California’s constitution, judges can be elected and are subject to recall.

The news came days after several potential jurors told the judge they could not serve on a jury in his courtroom due to the Turner sentence.

Meanwhile around two million people have signed two petitions to remove judge Perksy from the Brock Turner case, and Michele Dauber’s campaign has raised over $90,000.

Democratic congresswoman Jackie Speier, who called for Mr Persky to resign, and around 15 other representatives made history when they took turns to read out the “gut-wrenching” 12-page victim statement in congress this week.

Recent headlines have also focused on the role played by probation officer Monica Lassettre, whose recommendation for a “moderate” jail sentence and three years probation was effectively rubber stamped by the judge.

Neither judge Persky or Ms Lassettre could be immediately contacted for comment.

“The probation officer said that Brock 'surrendered a hard earned swimming scholarship'; it’s nonsense and insulting to the victim and to women everywhere,” said Ms Dauber.

Ms Lassettre used the victim’s words against her in court to argue that Turner should not spend long in jail.

Quoting Emily Doe, she said: “I want him to know it hurt me, but I don't want his life to be over. I want him to be punished, but as a human, I just want him to get better. I don't want him to feel like his life is over and I don't want him to rot away in jail; he doesn't need to be behind bars.”

In the victim’s statement, she responded: “When I read the probation officer’s report, I was in disbelief, consumed by anger which eventually quieted down to profound sadness. My statements have been slimmed down to distortion and taken out of context. I fought hard during this trial and will not have the outcome minimized by a probation officer who attempted to evaluate my current state and my wishes in a fifteen minute conversation, the majority of which was spent answering questions I had about the legal system.”

Ms Dauber told The Independent that the victim likely did not even know that probation was an option, as the minimum sentence for this crime in California is two years in prison.

The victim was merely trying to tell Ms Lassettre during their 15-minute interview that she did not wish for Turner to spend 14 years in jail, the maximum sentence, according to Ms Dauber.

Ms Dauber urged people not to pinpoint responsibility on probation officer Ms Lassettre, however, as the final decision lay with the judge, an elected official.

“The legislature gives the authority to the judge. The judge is not supposed to defer to the probation report,” she said.

“One of the offenses he [Brock Turner] was convicted for - assault with intent to commit rape - that’s presumptively not even eligible for probation under the law. The judge bent over backwards to grant this man probation,” she added.

Probation means that the defendant would be out of jail in three months but subject to certain restrictions like not drinking alcohol or owning a firearm.

In the probation report, Turner said his plans for the future include “establishing a program for high school and college students” to speak “out against the college campus drinking culture and the sexual promiscuity that goes along with that”.

Ms Dauber said that a registered sex offender would not be allowed near a school in most states, including Ohio where his parents live, and his “future plans” to speak to high school classes show a “lack of remorse or understanding” which make him unsuitable for probation.