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Brock Turner's lawyer offers a bizarre defense in attempt to overturn sexual assault conviction
Brock Turner, a former Stanford University student, is appealing his rape conviction, saying that he simply wanted "sexual outercourse." (Image source: KPIX-TV video screenshot)

Brock Turner's lawyer offers a bizarre defense in attempt to overturn sexual assault conviction

An attorney for Brock Turner — the former Stanford University student convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman in 2015 — attempted to overturn his client's assault conviction Tuesday during a court hearing in San Jose, California.

What's the history?

Turner was convicted in March 2016 on three felony sexual assault charges, including attempted rape. He began serving a six-month sentence in June 2016 and was released after just three months. At the time, Turner was facing up to 14 years in prison.

A judge, however, determined that serving a lengthy prison term at such a young age would be too "severe" an impact on Turner.

Turner's father thought that even six months was too long a sentence to serve, and sparked outrage with a public letter pushing for probation over jail time.

Of his son, Turner's father wrote, "His life will never be the one that he dreamed about and worked so hard to achieve. That is a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20-plus years of life.”

“He will never be his happy go lucky self with that easy going personality and welcoming smile."

Californians were outraged at the judge's leniency in Turner's sentencing, and in June 2016 voted to recall Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky.

Despite fighting to block the recall election, 59 percent of California voters voted to recall him; just 40 percent thought he should be able to continue serving as a judge.

Turner was 19 years old at the time of the incident.

You can read more about Turner's story here and here, and you can read the victim's stunning and gut-wrenching statement of the event here.

What are the details of Turner's latest move?

According to KPIX-TV, Turner's lawyer, Eric Multhaup, told three appellate court judges that Turner simply wanted "outercourse," and had no intentions of raping the unnamed woman, and is attempting to overturn the felony charge of attempted rape.

According to Multhaup, "sexual outercourse" is effectively a version of "safe sex."

Multhaup said that because Turner had kept his clothing on, the felony conviction should be tossed out, despite witness account noting that Turner was found "violently thrusting but fully clothed."

According to KPIX, Deputy Attorney General Alisha Carlile argued to uphold Turner's conviction.

“The circumstances made it abundantly clear what he [meaning Turner] intended,” Carlile said.

Three California appellate justices have 90 days to discuss Multhaup’s appeal argument as well as issue a ruling on the appeal.

Where's Turner?

Turner was not present in court on Tuesday. According to public record, Turner is living outside of Dayton, Ohio, with his family and reportedly works for a landscaping company.

Turner, who is now 22, was required to register as a sex offender after his conviction.

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Sarah Taylor

Sarah Taylor

Sarah is a former staff writer for TheBlaze, and a former managing editor and producer at TMZ. She resides in Delaware with her family. You can reach her via Twitter at @thesarahdtaylor.