2 women apologize for letters supporting Brock Turner in rape case

Byby Tiffany Wilson KGO logo

Thursday, June 9, 2016

Stanford rape case having an impact in Brooklyn

Kemberlyl Richardson reports a band in Brooklyn was cancelled because of one woman's ties to the Stanford rapist.

STANFORD, Calif. -- Two people who wrote letters supporting the student who sexually assaulted an unconscious woman at Stanford are now taking it back.

Brock Turner's high school friend Leslie Rasmussen is part of the band Good English. Her letter defending Turner went viral and venues quickly took notice -- the band has been dropped from several gigs. On her Facebook page Rasmussen wrote that she's deeply sorry.

Turner's high school guidance counselor is also apologizing. She wrote Turner is absolutely undeserving of the outcome in a letter to the judge. Today she says she made a mistake. This as ABC News exclusively obtained photos showing Turner's partying past.

In court, Turner's family and friends claimed he wasn't involved in drugs or alcohol before Stanford. Prosecutors say they found pictures showing Turner holding a bong and smoking a hash pipe. They also say he sent dozens of text messages mentioning hard drug use.

Turner was sentenced to six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a dumpster last year. He's expected to serve half that time.

The judge in the case has received death threats for the lenient sentence and there's also a movement to get him ousted.

Here are the recall options in California; the first is to get a write-in candidate on the November ballot. To make that happen, voters must turn in 600 signatures by August, the candidate has to submit their paperwork and voters have to write-in the candidate's name instead of voting for Persky on the ballot. The second method is even more complicated and involves a special election.

County officials say it's possible, but not probable to force a recall this November. There's also a petition on change.org to recall Judge Persky, as of Thursday morning it has nearly 827,000 signatures.

Congresswoman Jackie Speier says they're arranging a special hour next week for members of the House to read the victim's letter out loud.

The case has sparked a PSA made by actress Lena Dunham and the cast from her HBO show "Girls." Dunham dedicated the ad to the woman she calls "the brave survivor" in the case.