Yet this sentencing seems particularly callous, particularly given the statement delivered at Turners hearing by the 23-year-old victim. In the courtroom, the victim looked directly at Turner and asked him, I was awake, right?, refuting Turners insistence throughout the trial that she was conscious throughout the encounter and verbally consented.
She also, Palo Alto Online reports, directly refuted large portions of Turners statement in which he blamed campus drinking culture and the sexual promiscuity that goes along with that, for raping a woman. She took particular issue with Turners false repentance (I want to show people that one night of drinking can ruin a life, Turner wrote in his statement). The victim said in court:
Ruin a life, one life, yours, you forgot about mine. Let me rephrase for you, I want to show people that one night of drinking can ruin two lives. You and me. You are the cause, I am the effect. You have dragged me through this hell with you, dipped me back into that night again and again. You knocked down both our towers, I collapsed at the same time you did. Your damage was concrete; stripped of titles, degrees, enrollment. My damage was internal, unseen, I carry it with me. You took away my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my safety, my intimacy, my confidence, my own voice, until today.
In her statement, too, the woman seized on the story that surrounded Turnerone that made him a victim of some inevitable circumstances, rather than a felon. A familiar narrative about rape and assault in which the effect of his crimes are diminished so that an upstanding young man could be mourned, so that he could be the victim:
In newspapers, my name was unconscious intoxicated woman, ten syllables, and nothing more than that. For a while, I believed that that was all I was. I had to force myself to relearn my real name, my identity. To relearn that this is not all that I am. That I am not just a drunk victim at a frat party found behind a dumpster, while you are the All-American swimmer at a top university, innocent until proven guilty, with so much at stake. I am a human being who has been irreversibly hurt, who waited a year to figure out if I was worth something.
She also spoke directly about the probation officers recommendation, saying that she didnt want Turner to rot away in prison, but rather for him to understand and admit to his wrongdoing. It, however, became clear to her after reading Turners statement (where he reiterated that he was drunk, she was conscious, the encounter was consensual, and drinking and hookup culture were the real culprits), that he was unable to exhibit...remorse.
I fully respected his right to a trial, but even after twelve jurors unanimously convicted him guilty of three felonies, all he has admitted to doing is ingesting alcohol. Someone who cannot take full accountability for his actions does not deserve a mitigating sentence. It is deeply offensive that he would try and dilute rape with a suggestion of promiscuity. By definition rape is the absence of promiscuity, rape is the absence of consent, and it perturbs me deeply that he cant even see that distinction.
After hearing and reading her statement, the judge still sentenced Turner to six months, though, as Palo Alto Online notes, it will more than likely be reduced to three months with credit for good behavior.
The county prosecutor said, The punishment does not fit the crime. It hardly ever does, but at least Turners future is still promising.
