Persky recall opponent joins race to replace embattled judge
A San Jose lawyer who opposes the recall of Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky has nonetheless entered the race to replace him — just in case voters boot the embattled judge out of office in June.
Angela Storey, a civil attorney and president of the Santa Clara County Trial Lawyers Association, said she wants to offer county voters an option other than prosecutor Cindy Hendrickson, who announced her candidacy in October and supports the recall.
“I absolutely oppose the recall,” Storey said. “But if it succeeds, it’s important for someone to take his place who has the temperament, experience and qualifications to be a judge.”
Persky touched off an international furor in June 2016 by sentencing Stanford athlete Brock Turner to six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious, intoxicated woman outside a campus fraternity party. Under Cal ifornia law, Turner, who returned to Ohio after serving three months of his sentence, will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
Critics, enraged by what they considered an indefensibly lenient sentence, organized the recall campaign that could remove a sitting California judge for only the fourth time in a century. Voters will be asked if Persky should be recalled and, if so, who should replace him.
Storey called the recall a “dangerous precedent” and said if voters don’t like the latitude judges are given under a particular law, “you change the law, which is what happened in this case.”
Turner’s case inspired two new laws. One, suggested by Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen, removed a provision in state law that allowed judges to treat sexual assault as a less severe crime if the victim is unconscious or intoxicated. The legislation imposes a mandatory prison term in such cases. Rosen opposes the recall.
Lawmakers also broadened the def inition of rape to include forced penetration of any body part with any foreign object. Turner was convicted of that charge, but it did not qualify as rape under existing law.
Led by Stanford law professor Michele Dauber, activists succeeded in collecting more than 95,000 signatures to put the recall before voters on June 5. Earlier this week, county supervisors officially placed the issue on the ballot.
The supervisors also placed the question of who would replace Persky if he loses on the same ballot. Voters will have the option of immediately picking Persky’s replacement, just as they did when they ousted Gov. Gray Davis in 2003 and chose Arnold Schwarzenegger to replace him out of 134 other candidates. If Persky loses, whoever gets the most votes would then serve out the rest of his six-year term, ending in 2022. The winner needs only a plurality of the votes, not a majority.
Anyone who has been a licensed attorney for at least 10 years in California can run for Superior Court; there is no requirement in judicial races that candidates must live in the county. Candidates have until March 22 to enter the race.
Storey, 43, was admitted to the State Bar of California in 2001 after graduating from law school at Santa Clara University. She currently serves as a temporary judge in small claims court and judicial arbitrator for Santa Clara County Superior Court. She handles personal injury cases for a firm she and her husband own. The couple have two children, both boys younger than 10.
Recall opponents had refrained from entering the race until now, hoping the issue wouldn’t make it onto the ballot and not wanting to offend the local judiciary, which strongly supports Persky. However, that strategy gave Hendrickson a major head start in gathering endorsements and fundraising.
Now, other candidates are expected to join the race given the public support for Persky’s ouster, as demonstrated by the recall campaign’s overwhelmingly successful petition drive and ability to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“I absolutely oppose the recall. But if it succeeds, it’s important for someone to take his placewho has the temperament, experience and qualifications to be a judge.” — San Jose attorney Angela Storey