Judge Aaron Persky was under fire last month for softball sentencing Stanford University student Brock Turner, 20. Now he’s making headlines again for giving three years to Raul Ramirez, a 32-year-old immigrant from El Salvador, who committed a similar crime.
However, unlike Turner, Ramirez pleaded guilty. Earlier in March, he confessed to sexually penetrating his female roommate by force. The plea deal means a three-year prison sentence for him. It is the minimum punishment for such an offense.
According to The Guardian, Ramirez comes from a poor background but had a defense attorney for a short period. Alexander Cross is a private lawyer who represented the defendant briefly.
“What’s happened with Mr. Ramirez is standard,” Cross told The Guardian. “The anomaly is the Stanford case.”
When the public learned about Ramirez’s sentencing, Persky was heavily criticized for being lenient with Turner. The 20-year-old only received six months of jail time and three years’ of probation.
Turner’s Case
At the time, Turner was arrested after two graduate students found him ‘thrusting’ on top of a half naked woman behind a dumpster. The unconscious woman was not a student but she was attending a fraternity party. Turner attempted to flee the scene but the witnesses held him down.
Moreover, his blood-alcohol level was twice the legal limit. After the arrest, the swimmer withdrew from Stanford.
Later on, he claimed the sexual encounter with his victim was consensual. Nonetheless, the jury found him guilty for three felony counts of sexual assault. Even then, he didn’t own up to his mistake. Instead, Turner blamed it on alcohol.
Persky, who is a Stanford alumnus himself, let Turner off easy. According to The New York Times, the judge said, “A prison sentence would have a severe impact on him. I think he will not be a danger to others.”
On top of that, Persky considered that it was Turner’s first offense and had been affected by the intense media coverage.
Ramirez’s Case
On the other hand, Ramirez’s case went in a different direction.
In 2014, the defendant entered his roommate’s room after giving her a “love letter”. He then forcibly fingered her for about five to ten minutes. Ramirez stopped when she broke down crying.
Afterward, she called 911 and got him arrested at his home in Santa Clara County. However, he admitted to the assault as soon as the police arrived, according to The Guardian. One officer even wrote that Ramirez knew he did something wrong and wanted to apologize to her.
A Spanish interpreter aided Ramirez in court and his bail was set at $200,000, whereas Turner’s was $150,000. But like the 20-year-old, he has neither prior convictions nor felonies.
However, California law requires a mandatory prison sentence for the convicted if force was used. On the contrary, the punishment is lighter if the victim was unconscious because no force was used.
In addition to that, Persky is not allowed to comment on pending cases.
