A California judge who was criticized for handing down a short jail term in a case involving a sexual assault at Stanford University is facing a growing number of impediments both inside and outside the courtroom.
Since Judge Aaron Persky of Santa Clara Superior Court sentenced a former champion swimmer for Stanford, Brock Turner, to what is effectively a three-month jail term, a dozen jurors have objected to serving in his courtroom. He was also the subject of a successful motion on Tuesday by the district attorney’s office to stop him from presiding over another sexual assault case.
In addition, since he handed down the sentence, a petition to remove him from the bench has attracted 1.4 million supporters, its organizers say.
Persky’s sentence in the Turner case gained national prominence when the victim released a powerful statement that she had made during the sentencing to BuzzFeed. The statement, which has been read millions of times online, describes her personal anguish during the assault and the trial.
The case that Persky was removed from on Tuesday involved a male nurse accused of touching, without any medical reason, the genitals of a sedated female patient.
In the motion to remove Persky, the prosecution said he was “prejudiced against the party or the interests of the party,” said Stacey Capps, chief trial deputy of the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.
The prosecution was unable to have a “a fair and impartial trial or hearing” with Persky hearing the case, the motion said.
In an interview, Capps said such motions were made “with some regularity” in the court, but usually by the defense.
The motions are rarely opposed.
Santa Clara District Attorney Jeffrey Rosen on Tuesday said in a statement that he had lost confidence in the judge to try the case.
The statement also cited another case that Persky dismissed on Monday before a jury could deliberate.
In that case, police stopped a woman in a stolen car and found what they said were stolen items in her bag. Jury selection in the case had been more difficult than usual, with as many as 16 jurors refusing to serve because they said they were unsettled by Persky’s sentence in the Stanford sexual assault case.
“I’ve never seen a juror tell a judge, I can’t be fair because of the judge,” supervising deputy district attorney James Leonard said. “It was shocking.”
In his statement, Rosen said he was “disappointed and puzzled” that the theft case had been dismissed.
“After this and the recent turn of events, we lack confidence that Judge Persky can fairly participate in this upcoming hearing in which a male nurse sexually assaulted an anesthetized female patient,” Rosen said.
The prosecutor called the motion to dismiss Persky “a rare and carefully considered step.”
“In the future, we will evaluate each case on its own merits and decide if we should use our legal right to ask for another judge in order to protect public safety and pursue justice,” Rosen said.
India and Canada yesterday reached a string of agreements, including on critical mineral cooperation and a “landmark” uranium supply deal for nuclear power, the countries’ leaders said in New Delhi. The pacts, which also covered technology and promoting the use of renewable energy, were announced after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hailed a fresh start in the relationship between their nations. “Our ties have seen a new energy, mutual trust and positivity,” Modi said. Carney’s visit is a key step forward in ties that effectively collapsed in 2023 after Ottawa accused New Delhi
Gaza is rapidly running out of its limited fuel supply and stocks of food staples might become tight, officials said, after Israel blocked the entry of fuel and goods into the war-shattered territory, citing fighting with Iran. The Israeli military closed all Gaza border crossings on Saturday after announcing airstrikes on Iran carried out jointly with the US. Israeli authorities late on Monday night said that they would reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel to Gaza yesterday, for “gradual entry of humanitarian aid” into the strip, without saying how much. Israeli authorities previously said the crossings could not be operated safely during
Counting was under way in Nepal yesterday, after a high-stakes parliamentary election to reshape the country’s leadership following protests last year that toppled the government. Key figures vying for power include former Nepalese prime minister K. P. Sharma Oli, rapper-turned-mayor Balendra Shah, who is bidding for the youth vote, and newly elected Nepali Congress party leader Gagan Thapa. In Kathmandu’s tea shops and city squares, people were glued to their phones, checking results as early trends flashed up — suggesting Shah’s centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) was ahead. Nepalese Election Commission spokesman Prakash Nyupane said the counting was ongoing “in a peaceful manner”
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
RSS