Brock Turner’s lawyer claims he only wanted to have ‘outercourse’ with victim

STANFORD University rapist Brock Turner is back in court after serving just months in jail for sexual assault, with his lawyer arguing that his client only wanted “outercourse” not intercourse with an unconscious woman outside a fraternity party.

On Tuesday, Turner’s lawyer Eric S Multhaup argued that his client’s attempted rape conviction should be overturned — that Turner never intended to rape an unconscious woman.

Multhaup stated that Turner only wanted to have fully clothed “outercourse”, SF Gate reports.

However, the appeal left the justices sceptical of his argument. The panel has three months to issue a ruling.

“I absolutely don’t understand what you are talking about,” Justice Franklin D Elia said adding that the law “requires the jury verdict to be honoured.”

SF Gate reported that Assistant Attorney-General Alisha Carlile argued that Multhaup had presented a “far-fetched version of events” that didn’t support the facts of the case.

Justice Adrienne Grover also argued against Multhaup’s suggestion that the jury “filled in the blanks” about the crime, saying that: “Intent is rarely proved by direct evidence.

“You can’t surgically remove things and look at them separately.”

Michele Dauber, a Stanford professor who successfully led a campaign to have Judge Aaron Perksy removed from the bench for giving Turner a “trivial” six month sentence, lashed out over the appeal.

“Brock Turner’s ridiculous arguments on appeal prove that he never deserved the trivial sentence Judge Persky gave him,” Ms Dauber posted on Twitter. “Turner is a remorseless, lying sex predator who belongs in prison. Now he’s spouting some new lies about “outercourse.” Get out of here.”

Turner, a former swimming champion, was charged after two fellow Stanford students witnessed the assault on a 22-year-old woman, known as Emily Doe’s, taking place in January 2015 while they were riding bicycles near the famed university.

In an emotional statement which she read out in court in 2016, Ms Doe who addressed her attacker directly, explained the severe impact his actions had on her.

She described waking up in a hospital after the attack covered in dried blood and bandages with no recollection of what had happened.

She said it wasn’t until she was asked to sign papers that said “Rape Victim” that she had any idea of what had happened, and later found out from a news article the state that she was found in — unconscious with her hair dishevelled, dress pulled over her shoulders and naked from the waist down with legs spread apart.

In March 2016 Turner was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault and was sentenced to six months in jail. Turner was 19 at the time.

Back in December 2017 Turner’s lawyers had made another appeal to overturn his conviction.

At the time he had only completed half of the six-month jail term before being released on good behaviour.

His appeal detailed in an extraordinary 172-page document centred on how drunk the victim was on the night of the attack.

In the appeal, it stated Turner was denied a fair trial because character witnesses were excluded by the court. It also claimed the prosecution failed “to present constitutionally sufficient evidence” to support the three counts of conviction.

Turner’s lawyer, Multhaup, said he had nothing to add about “the unfairness of the conviction” beyond the court filing.

“What we are saying is that what happened is not a crime,” John Tompkins, Turner’s legal adviser, told KNTV. “It happened, but it was not anywhere close to a crime.”

But the Santa Clara County district attorney Jeff Rosen said Turner “received a fair trial and was justly convicted”.

“His conviction will be upheld. Nothing can ever roll back Emily Doe’s legacy of raising the world’s awareness about sexual assault,” Rosen said in December last year.

Judge Persky copped major backlash for giving Turner a lenient six-month sentence and three-year probation.

In a special election, Californians voted to unseat the judge which ended his 15-year career. It made him the first sitting judge recalled in more than 80 years in the state.

Ms Dauber, who also knew Turner’s victim, described it as a victory for the #MeToo movement at the time.

“The broader message of this victory is that violence against women is now a voting issue.”

“This is a historical moment in time. Women are standing up for their rights and there is a national reckoning.’

Many complained that Persky — who holds undergraduate degrees from Stanford and a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley — showed too much deference to Turner, a white Stanford scholarship athlete whose parents could afford a private lawyer.

In a lengthy interview with The Associated Press last month, Persky said he didn’t regret the decision and was taken aback by the reaction.

“I expected some negative reaction,” Persky said. But not this.”

Persky said he was adopting the probation department’s recommendation to spare Turner prison for several reasons, including Turner’s age, clean criminal record and the fact that both Turner and the victim were intoxicated, NZ Herald reported.

The case sparked a national debate over the criminal justice system’s treatment of sexual assault victims and racial inequities in court.

Prosecutors had asked that Turner be given six years in prison.

According to reports. he could have been jailed for up to 14 years, the maximum sentence in California, but instead was given just six months imprisonment and three years probation.

If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence, call 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au. In an emergency, call 000.