Brock Turner Update: Judge In Stanford Assault Case Believes That Convicted Rapist 'Remembered Consent?' [VIDEO]
The judge in the Brock Turner case has opened up on giving the defendant a lenient sentence.
In January 2015, Turner, a former swimmer at Stanford University, was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman behind a frat house dumpster. This case made a good haul of headlines lately when Judge Aaron Persky sentenced Turner to only six months behind bars even though he was facing up to 14 years.
On Friday, CNN released details from sentencing transcripts where it's claimed that defense attorney Mike Armstrong said the former swimmer "never denied" penetrating the victim, but "in his drunken state, he remembered consent."
The judge responded to this by giving the impression that he believes Turner.
"I mean, I take him at his word that, subjectively, that's his version of events," Persky said. "The jury, obviously, found it not to be the sequence of events."
Even though the judge still believes "it's not an excuse," he added that Turner's drunken moment was "a factor that, when trying to assess moral culpability in this situation, is mitigating."
The judge added more on how since Turner was intoxicated at the time, he seems to think this makes it less serious.
"There is less moral culpability attached to the defendant who is legally intoxicated," Persky said.
He also believes that Turner has expressed "a genuine feeling of remorse."
Despite his actions, the judge isn't the only one to go lenient on Turner-- his family and even his ex-girlfriend has defended him where she said in a letter posted on Los Angeles Times that he's "undeserving" of his sentence.
"He was determined to be the best he could be in all he did," Turner's ex Lydia Pocisk wrote. "I say this with 100% confidence because I remember a conversation with him a few years back. I asked why he had gotten so good at everything he did, and his answer surprised me. He simply said, 'It's not as fun to not be successful or not work hard.'"
