A jury in March found Turner (former Stanford swimmer) guilty of three felony sexual assault counts for the January 2015 attack, which was interrupted by two graduate students (from Sweden) who saw him assaulting a partially clothed woman behind a trash bin. Turner tried to flee, but the students tackled and pinned him down until police arrived and arrested him.
Turner had a blood-alcohol level that was twice the legal limit. The three-time All American high school swimmer from Dayton, Ohio, withdrew from Stanford after his arrest.
On one hand, the people supporting the light sentence cite his lack of a criminal record and what they see as genuine remorse. His attorneys have argued that the ex-swimmer has a record of real accomplishment.
"I would give anything to change what happened that night." Turner wrote in a statement to probation authorities that was quoted in a defense brief. "I can never forgive myself for imposing trauma and pain on (the victim)."
On the other hand, Deputy District Attorney Alaleh Kianerci, has urged the judge to disregard the probation recommendation, saying, "the fact that the defendant preyed upon an intoxicated stranger on a college campus should not be viewed as a less serious crime than if he were to assault a stranger in downtown Palo Alto."
