--- description: Brock Turner, the former Stanford university swimmer who served three months in jail for sexual assault, is appealing his conviction. title: Brock Turner Is Appealing His Sexual Assault Conviction image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7b9443a1a42d3f5b/6988f37222fb85c4a6e23e32/rtx2nvh8.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [justice](/tag/justice/) ## justice Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Brock Turner Is Trying to Get His Sexual Assault Convictions Overturned by [Eli Meixler](/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 4, 2017 5:09 AM CUT  Brock Turner, the former Stanford swimmer convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, leaves Santa Clara County Jail in San Jose, California, on Sept. 2, 2016. Brock Turner, the former Stanford swimmer convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, leaves Santa Clara County Jail in San Jose, California, on Sept. 2, 2016.Stephen Lam—Reuters by [Eli Meixler](/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 4, 2017 5:09 AM CUT Brock Turner, who served three months in jail for sexual assault, is [appealing his conviction](http://edition.cnn.com/2017/12/02/us/brock-turner-sexual-assault-appeal/index.html "undefined"), and looking for a retrial. Turner was [sentenced to six months](http://time.com/4363538/brock-turner-stanford-sexual-assault-swimmer/ "undefined") in June after he was found guilty of three felony counts of sexual assault, over a January 2015 incident in which he was found assaulting an [unconscious 22-year-old woman](http://time.com/4363663/congress-stanford-sexual-assault-brock-turner/ "undefined") outside a fraternity house. Turner was released in September after [serving only three months](http://time.com/4477395/stanford-swimmer-brock-turner-released-jail-today/ "undefined") in jail. The former swimmer is now appealing his conviction and [asking for a new trial](http://edition.cnn.com/2017/12/02/us/brock-turner-sexual-assault-appeal/index.html "undefined"). In a 172-page brief filed on Friday, Turner’s lawyers objected to the prosecutor’s description of the the assault as [happening “behind the dumpster”](http://edition.cnn.com/2017/12/02/us/brock-turner-sexual-assault-appeal/index.html "undefined"), which mischaracterized Turner’s behavior and “implied moral depravity, callousness and culpability,” CNN reports. The brief also argued that the [trial excluded character witnesses](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/02/us/brock-turner-appeal.html "undefined") who could have testified about Turner’s academic and athletic accomplishments, according to the New York _Times_. The case prompted national outcry after Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky [reduced Turner’s sentence to six months](http://www.businessinsider.com/flawed-logic-of-judge-aaron-persky-sentencing-of-brock-turner-2016-6 "undefined"), which many saw as [too lenient](http://time.com/4360105/tavis-smiley-brock-turners-sentence-is-a-grotesque-example-of-unchecked-privilege/ "undefined"). Prosecutors had looked for Turner to face six years in prison, but Persky argued that a longer punishment could have “a severe impact” on the Olympic-hopeful’s career. Persky [faced a recall campaign](http://time.com/4359265/stanford-brock-allen-turner-judge-recall/ "undefined") to following the trial, and California passed a tougher sentencing bill [requiring prison stints](http://motto.time.com/4515175/jerry-brown-sexual-assault-sentence-bill-brock-turner/ "undefined") for perpetrators convicted of assault unconscious victims. As part of his conviction, Turner also [registered as a sex offender](http://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/06/us/brock-turner-sex-offender-registry/index.html "undefined") in his home state of Ohio. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5047213/brock-turner-rape-trial-appeal-conviction/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5047213/brock-turner-rape-trial-appeal-conviction/"},"headline":"Brock Turner Is Trying to Get His Sexual Assault Convictions Overturned","datePublished":"2017-12-04T05:09:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T18:26:07.923Z","description":"The former Stanford swimmer who served three months in jail is appealing his conviction last June","url":"https://time.com/5047213/brock-turner-rape-trial-appeal-conviction/","keywords":["justice","Sexual Assault","Crime","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7b9443a1a42d3f5b/6988f37222fb85c4a6e23e32/rtx2nvh8.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eli Meixler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eli/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7b9443a1a42d3f5b/6988f37222fb85c4a6e23e32/rtx2nvh8.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Brock Turner, the former Stanford swimmer convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, leaves the Santa Clara County Jail in San Jose, California","caption":"Brock Turner, the former Stanford swimmer convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, leaves the Santa Clara County Jail in San Jose, California","creditText":"Stephen Lam—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/justice/","name":"justice"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5047213/brock-turner-rape-trial-appeal-conviction/","name":"Brock Turner Is Trying to Get His Sexual Assault Convictions Overturned"}}]}] ```