California voters remove US rape case judge

LOS ANGELES: A US judge who came under seething criticism for sentencing a Stanford University student to six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman has been ousted from office by voters in California.

Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky was recalled by a majority of voters in Santa Clara County, south of San Francisco, during primary elections held in the state on Tuesday.

Persky, who has served on the bench for 15 years, is the first California judge to be recalled since 1932.

He set off a storm of outrage in 2016 after he handed down what was perceived as a far too lenient sentence in the sexual assault trial of Stanford student Brock Turner.

Turner, who was 19 at the time, was arrested after two students discovered him lying on top of an unconscious 22-year- old woman near a dumpster.

He denied having assaulted the woman and said they had consensual sex after meeting at a fraternity party where there was heavy drinking.

A jury, however, rejected his defense and he was convicted of three felonies.

The case drew international attention after the victim – identified as ‘Emily Doe’ – read an emotionally charged 12-page letter at the sentencing, telling Turner he had taken away “my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my intimacy, my confidence, my own voice, until today.” — AFP