Brock Turner, the man found guilty of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman at Stanford in a high profile case in 2016, is now trying to overturn his charge of attempted rape so that he will no longer have a criminal record or have to register as a sex offender. In December 2016, he also filed an appeal, at the time arguing that the accusations were "a detailed and lengthy set of lies."
Yesterday, his lawyer, Eric Multhaup, argued in a court hearing in San Jose, California that Turner wanted "outercourse," not intercourse. He described outercourse as a form of safe sex that entails keeping all your clothes on. He also claims that Turner never meant to rape the woman, who has remained anonymous throughout the trial and is referred to as "Jane Doe."
The appeals court, which consists of three justices, has up to 90 days to issue a ruling. When hearing Multhaup's argument, Justice Franklin D. Elia said, "I absolutely don't understand what you are talking about...We are not in a position to say [of the jury], you should have gone a different way."
Turner was originally sentenced to six months in jail, but ended up only having to serve three. The judge who gave him his sentence was recalled, making him the first judge to be recalled in California in over 85 years.
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