Newsmakers: California governor OKs sex crime bill tied to Stanford case
Signed California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed two sexual assault laws in response to national outrage over the six-month jail sentence given to a former Stanford University swimmer for assaulting a woman passed out near a trash bin. The new laws require longer sentences to be served in state prison for defendants convicted of assaulting unconscious victims, ending the possibility of brief jail sentences like the one Brock Turner received in June.
Turner faced a minimum sentence of two years in state prison, and prosecutors argued for six years. But Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky cited the “extraordinary circumstances” of Turner’s youth and clean criminal record in imposing a shorter term in county jail.
The new law removes a judge’s discretion to sentence an offender to jail, meaning future defendants will face state prison sentences as long as 14 years.
Awarded Minnesota’s Cheryl Reeve is the WNBA coach of the year and Lynx center Sylvia Fowles is the league’s defensive player of the year. Reeve drew 17 votes from the national media panel after leading Minnesota to the best record in the WNBA. Los Angeles Sparks coach Brian Agler was second with 12 votes
Ordered Suspended University of Southern California football player Osa Masina, who was charged with rape in Utah and facing allegations involving the same woman in California, was ordered not to contact the alleged victim. Masina, 19, is accused of assaulting the woman after she passed out following a July party in Utah, according to charging documents. Los Angeles County prosecutors are also reviewing sexual assault allegations after police handed over the investigation, according to district attorney spokeswoman Jane Robison.
Sidelined St. Louis Blues forward Jaden Schwartz will miss at least a month after hurting his left elbow in practice.
Wisconsin linebacker Vince Biegel, a senior, will miss several weeks after undergoing foot surgery. It wasn’t clear when Biegel was hurt.
Reported Soccer star Neymar has filed a suit against Brazil’s government for allegedly leaking details of an investigation into fiscal crimes supposedly by him and his family. Judge Eduardo Santos da Rocha Penteado, who received Neymar’s complaint on May 17, asked Brazil’s government to reveal which staff members had access to Neymar’s data. He has yet to rule on the case. A year ago, another Brazilian judge accused Neymar of tax evasion, and froze almost $50 million in assets that belonged to him and his family.
The Brazil and Barcelona forward was accused of not paying almost $16 million in taxes from 2011 to 2013, and denies wrongdoing.
Honored Former Tennessee State and U.S. Olympic women’s track and field coach Ed Temple, who died last week at age 89, was honored at a memorial service on Tennessee State’s campus by many of the gold medalists who ran for him. Lucinda Williams, Edith McGuire Duvall, Wyomia Tyus and Chandra Cheeseborough-Guice were among the gold medalists to speak at Temple’s memorial service.
“He was a man with a heart that was as big as anyone,” Lucinda Williams Adams said at a memorial service on Tennessee State’s campus. “He taught us how to have pride and dignity and to be able to lift each other up. Do not dwell on not having, but dwell on what you are going to have.”
Temple died Sept. 22. He coached the women’s track team at Tennessee State, formerly Tennessee A&I, from 1953 to 1994. His Tennessee State Tigerbelles won 13 Olympic gold medals while shattering racial and gender barriers.