Brock Turner lied about his past substance abuse to the judge
In Brock Turner's statement to Judge Aaron Persky after the Stanford swimmer was convicted of three counts of sexual assault, Turner repeatedly blames his actions on alcohol and Stanford's "party culture." He also wrote that "coming from a small town in Ohio, I had never really experienced celebrating or partying that involved alcohol. Turner's statement — along with supportive letters from his friends and family — influenced Judge Persky to sentence Turner to six months in jail, because he believed "a prison sentence would have a severe impact on him" and that Turner " will not be a danger to others."
The Mercury Newsreports that prosecutor Alaleh Kiancerci's sentencing memo includes evidence that Turner used drugs and alcohol while still in high school, indicating that Turner lied to the judge about his previous experiences. According to the News, "Kiancerci pointed out the lies to the judge during the sentencing hearing, but Persky did not comment on Turner's dishonesty."
The following are excerpts of the cell-phone material included in the memo:
"Video depicting the Defendant smoking from a bong and drinking out of a bottle of liquor immediately after taking a 'bong hit,' which was captured on the Defendant's phone on December 27, 2014."
"On December 18, 2014, he sent a message to (a friend) that stated, 'Do you think I could buy some wax so we could do some dabs?' Dabs are a highly concentrated potent form of marijuana that is a THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) concentrated mass."
"The text messages also referenced doing acid or trying to find a 'hook up' to purchase acid both in high school and while at Stanford. On December 24, 2014, someone sent a message to Turner stating, 'I've got a hankerin for a good acid trip when we get back. Turner responded, 'I'm down for sure.' On July 25, 2014, while still in Ohio, the Turner sent a text message to another friend saying, 'Oh dude I did acid with ... last week.' The friend then bragged about 'candyflippin' the prior week, which he explained was taking LSD and MDMA together. He responded, 'I gotta (expletive deleted) try that. I heard it's awesome.'"
As of Thursday, it's been reported that Turner will only serve three months of his six-month sentence.
