'Brock made a mistake': The letters that could help explain Stanford rapist’s light sentence

Before a judge decided a former Stanford student convicted of rape should spend a few months in jail, his family and friends flooded the court with letters in his defense.

The Los Angeles Times has published letters in defense of Brock Turner, who was sentenced to six months in prison for three counts of felony sexual assault on Thursday. They come from the former student's family and friends, who attested to his character.

“I have spent many good years with him, and have never known him to have a malevolent bone in his body," wrote an 18-year-old friend. 

Another friend, whose letter was tweeted by a Stanford law professor, insisted that Turner wasn't a rapist and appeared to blame political correctness as the cause of his conviction.

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A friend of the family and former federal prosecutor, Margaret Quinn, also wrote to the judge to assure him of Turner's true "nature."

“There is no doubt Brock made a mistake that night – he made a mistake in drinking excessively to the point where he could not fully appreciate that his female acquaintance was so intoxicated,” she wrote. “I know Brock did not go to that party intending to hurt, or entice, or overpower anyone. That is not his nature." 

"That is not his nature."

Brock Turner's sister, Caroline, agreed that her brother deserved punishment, but asked that he not see the inside of a cell. 

“Incarcerating Brock for the decisions he made on one night in 2015 would strip him of his ability to navigate through reality and erase that potential that he has to be a contributing member of society," she wrote. "Instead of making him a burden of the state, please consider how counseling, community service and probation would be a proper and deserved punishment.”

Brock Turner's grandparents wrote to Judge Aaron Persky as well. 

“Brock is the only person being held accountable for the actions of other irresponsible adults," they wrote. 

National anger over the case began to build when Turner, who was eligible to serve a maximum of 14 years behind bars, was given a comparatively light sentence for the rape he was convicted of committing.

It built into an uproar after the woman he assaulted -- who has not been named -- read a harrowing statement in court in which she addressed Turner and detailed her ordeal since the assault in January of 2015. 

That outrage built further when the law professor tweeted part of the statement made by the student's father in defense of his son.

Dan Turner despaired over Brock's loss of appetite since he sexually assaulted the 23-year-old woman. 

The letters and statements, however, appear to have gotten through to Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky, who cited character references as one of the reasons he gave Brock Turner a sentence that many believe to be astonishingly light. Prosecutors had asked that he serve six years. Mashable has contacted Judge Persky's office for comment.

The judge has since become a target -- He's up for reelection in November, and is currently facing a recall campaign. 

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