The trial of a former Stanford athlete charged with sexually assaulting an unconscious drunk woman at a frat party got off to promising start on the fourth day of testimony Tuesday, with witness testimony Tuesday supporting Brock Turner’s claim that the alleged victim didn’t appear sloppy drunk.
But by day’s end, the prosecution had gutted the credibility of the defense’s star expert witness, increasing the pressure on 20-year-old Turner to win over the jury Wednesday when he takes the stand and offers his account for the first time.
The slim, clean-cut blond Midwesterner has pleaded not guilty to three felony charges: sexually penetrating an intoxicated person, sexually penetrating an unconscious person, and assault with intent to commit rape. If he is convicted, he would face a minimum of eight years in prison and a maximum of 22 years. He is expected to testify that the woman, who was 22 at the time of the Jan. 18, 2015 incident at the Kappa Alpha fraternity, did not appear extremely drunk and consented to the sexual encounter, but was too inebriated to remember.
Prosecutor Aleleh Kiancerci, on the other hand, contends that the woman was clearly extremely drunk — and Turner knew it. She was found unconscious with her bra pushed up, her underpants and her hair ground into a bed of pine needles when two bicylists rode by and saw Turner atop her making a thrusting motion. She did not wake up for at least three hours. The woman’s blood-alcohol was more than .24, or three times the legal limit. Turner’s blood-alcohol content was .17, or more than twice the legal limit of .08.
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