PALO ALTO (KRON) — The Santa Clara County Superior Court judge, who handed down a lenient sexual assault sentence to Brock Turner in the Stanford rape case, is now facing scrutiny for his action in a different case.
The case was similar to Turner’s, but it ended with a much harsher sentence.
Weeks after Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky sentenced Brock Turner to six months in prison for rape, a report from The Guardian said there’s evidence Persky was about to hand down a three-year sentence to another man for a similar offense. KRON has not independently confirmed this report.
Raul Ramirez pleaded guilty earlier this year to sexually assaulting his female roommate. The Guardian reports a plea agreement from back in March shows he will get the three-year punishment — six times longer than Turner’s.
A source from the Supreme Court told KRON that attorneys will be presenting Ramirez with a three-year deal.
“This is exactly why we feel that a recall is appropriate because we feel this judge has demonstrated bias and abused his discretion,” Stanford Law Professor Michelle Dauber said.
A campaign organizer from UltraViolet, the group that put up billboards in the Bay Area calling for the removal of Judge Persky, said she doesn’t have a problem with Ramirez’ sentence. But it’s still Turner’s that stands out in comparison.
“The fact the Judge Persky felt that he should get three years and he thought that a white, wealthy, Stanford athlete should get only a few months for this violent crime, it’s just an example of why he’s unfit to deliver justice,” Karin Roland said.
Since this case gained notoriety, KRON also brought you reaction from public defenders who support Judge Persky’s decision.
“No one in the community that has been able to cite any example of a similarly situated client to Brock Turner that was of a minority background or that was of an underprivileged background that received a harsher sentence under similar circumstances,” Santa Clara County Public Defender Sajid Khan said a week and a half ago.
Now, after Monday’s report, Dauber is answering back.
“Now, I think we can reasonably call that into question,” Michele Dauber said. “I think we here have some evidence that he has in fact sentenced Mr. Turner much more leniently than he sentenced this defendant of color.”Vince Cestone contributed to this report.