A California court upheld Brock Turner’s conviction this week after he argued that he only engaged in “outercourse” with his victim.
The lenient sentence handed down to Brock Turner for the felony sexual assault of a 22-year-old woman on Stanford University’s campus ignited a nationwide debate on the topic of sexual assault. This week, long after Brock Turner served three months in jail, Turner’s conviction was upheld by a California appeals court. As a result of the decision, Turner will be forced to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
The new trial also caught the attention of the media after Turner’s attorney made some unusual arguments. During a portion of the trial that took place at the end of July, Turner’s attorney argued that Turner had simply engaged in “outercourse” with his victim. Turner’s attorney went on to argue that “outercourse” in a form of safe sex. The term “outercourse” enraged the public and even confused the trial’s justice. “I absolutely don’t understand what you are talking about,” Justice Franklin D. Elia said in response to the attorney’s bizarre argument.
Justice Elia highlighted that Turner lied to police when questioned about his decision to run away from his victim after two students attempted to intervene. “He did not explain or defend himself to them,” Elia wrote. “And he lied to police about running.”
Turner still has the option to appeal the decision to California’s Supreme Court. However, it remains unclear if he will choose to do so.
In June, Breitbart News covered the recall of Judge Aaron Persky, who faced a national backlash for the light sentence he chose for Turner. Persky was the first California judge recalled in almost 80 years.