California judge who sentenced Stanford swimmer faces voters

PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) " Northern California voters are deciding whether to remove a judge from office for the first time in decades because he sentenced a former Stanford University swimmer convicted of sexual assault to a short jail sentence instead of prison.

Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky would be the first California judge recalled from office since 1932 if a majority of voters choose to remove him on Tuesday.

Stanford University Law professor Michele Dauber launched the recall effort in June 2016 shortly after Persky sentenced Brock Turner to six months in jail for sexually assaulting a young woman outside a fraternity house on campus. Turner was released from jail for good behavior after serving three months. He is required to register for life as a sex offender.

The judge was following a recommendation from the county probation department, but the case has turned into one of the first electoral tests of the #MeToo movement's political clout.

Julie Duffield, 60, voted against recalling Persky, saying people should not take their anger about Turner's sentence out on the judge.

"I have two boys. I'm very much a feminist. I just don't think it's a solution," she said outside City Hall in Palo Alto, where she dropped off her mail-in ballot.

Brendan Erickson, 25, said he understood the argument that removing Persky could set a bad precedent, but said judge made "an incredibly poor decision." He voted to recall Persky.

"I have two little sisters, and I want them to feel safe," Erickson said.

The case garnered international attention after BuzzFeed published the eloquent statement of the victim, known as Emily Doe, read before Turner was sentenced. The Associated Press doesn't general identify victims of sexual crimes.

"You took away my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my intimacy, my confidence, my own voice, until today," she read. She also recounted the ordeal of the investigation and Turner's trial, where she was cross-examined about her drinking habits and sexual experience.

"Instead of taking time to heal, I was taking time to recall the night in excruciating detail, in order to prepare for the attorney's questions that would be invasive, aggressive, and designed to steer me off course, to contradict myself, my sister, phrased in ways to manipulate my answers," she read.

Critics complained that Persky's sentence was too lenient and discounted sexual assault while also underscoring the inequity of the criminal justice system. Turner, a white male from an upper middle-class neighborhood, was represented by an attorney his family hired rather than a court-appointed public defender.

Citing judicial ethics, Persky has declined to discuss the case in detail because Turner has appealed. But Persky told The Associated Press in an interview that he has no regrets over how he handled the case or his courtroom.

Personal injury attorney Angela F. Storey and Santa Clara County assistant district attorney Cindy Seeley Hendrickson are vying to replace Persky if he is recalled.