When a California judge chose the most lenient sentence – six months in jail – for a Stanford swimmer convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman on campus, the outrage made national headlines for weeks. Anger at the judge turned into a recall effort on the June 5 primary ballot and more widespread media coverage.
Despite the glare, Judge Aaron Persky has been mostly silent for nearly two years. San Francisco reporter Paul Elias has spent nearly that entire time asking for an interview, over and over. He wanted to know why Persky decided on the seemingly lenient sentence, and how he was affected by the powerful victim statement, which went viral after the woman who was raped spoke of how the attack affected her life.
Stanford law professor Michele Dauber poses outside of the Palo Alto Courthouse in California, May 14, 2018, wearing a pin to recall Judge Aaron Persky. Persky sentenced Stanford swimmer Brock Turner to six months in jail for felony sexual assault. Dauber, an outspoken on-campus activist and a friend of the victim, launched the recall effort.
AP Photo / Jeff Chiu
Judge Aaron Persky poses in Los Altos Hills, Calif., May 15, 2018. Persky followed the county probation department’s recommendation when he chose the most lenient sentence – six months in jail – for a Stanford swimmer convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman on campus. He now faces a recall vote.
AP Photo / Jeff Chiu
Former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner is photographed at the Greene County Sheriff's Office, Sept. 6, 2016, in Xenia, Ohio, where he officially registered as a sex offender. Judge Aaron Persky, who sentenced Turner to six months in jail, says he would handle the sexual assault case the same way today as he did in 2016, even though he now faces a recall.
Greene County Sheriff's Office
This month, those efforts paid off with an exclusive, three-hour all formats interview by the AP at the judge’s home. The judge said he had no regrets, even though the sentence may cost him his judgeship. The resulting story was featured prominently on numerous websites, TV and radio stations, including the Washington Post, the LA Times, and even the San Francisco Chronicle, which has written extensively about the case. Terry Chea’s video package aired in its entirety on local station KTVU-TV.
For his persistence in getting AP a fascinating interview on a competitive story, Elias wins this week's Best of the States award.