The Stanford Swimmer Scandal: Part One

Brock Turner was a Stanford University student and promising swimmer whose name became synonymous with a controversial sexual assault case. The incident, the trial, and the subsequent sentencing sparked outrage and ignited a nationwide debate on privilege, justice, and the treatment of sexual assault survivors. Join Jay Harris as we explore the case that gripped the nation and the fallout that continues to resonate.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome back to playing dirty sports Scandals. I'm your hosts
and Barista Jay Harris, serving up the juicy scandals you
crave each week. Today's Tale on Tap is one of
the most talked about and controversial cases in recent memory.
The ingredients are promising athlete, a horrific crime, and the
legal outcome that ignited a firestorm of debate across the nation.

(00:32):
Can you guess how badly this blend is going to
go down? Brace yourself because we're diving into the story
of Brock Turner. Brock Turner was born August first, nineteen

(00:53):
ninety five, in Dayton, Ohio, to Dan and Carlen Turner.
His childhood was spent in a comfortable home of Hyatts.
His dad, Dan Turner, is a Civilian Air Force electrical engineer,
and his mom, Carleen, is a registered surgery nurse. The
turn of family emphasized community service, participating in activities for

(01:13):
the Good Samaritan Hospital and the Girl Scouts. Brock was loved, supported,
and raised to be a go getter alongside his older siblings,
Caroline and Scott. At age two, Brock was already demonstrating
unusual talent as a swimmer. By age ten, he wasn't
just turning locals heads into public pools. He was making

(01:36):
headlines in the newspapers and won the Ohio Junior Olympics
before even entering high school. Realizing their son's gift, Dan
and Carlene took Brock to the Dayton Raiders Swim Club,
where he was able to train under coach Kevin Weldon,
one of the most experienced competition swim professionals in the country.

(01:57):
Coach Weldon, who was inducted into the International Swim Coach
Association Hall of Fame in twenty eighteen, worked closely with
Brock to develop his skills. By the time he entered
Oakwood High School, Brock was ready to dominate. With coach
Kevin Weldon's guidance, Brock's high school swim coach, Eric Hortzman,
pushed him to set multiple school records, earned state titles,

(02:19):
and solidify himself as an absolute standout in the two
hundred yard and the five hundred yard freestyle events, often
finishing well ahead of his competitors. These events, which require
a combination of speed, endurance, and strategy, showcased Brock's versatility
and stamina in the pool, but Brock Turner didn't stop

(02:40):
with freestyle. He also competed in butterfly and backstroke, demonstrating
his unusual versatility and all the round swimming prowess. Given
his strength and competition, it didn't come as a surprise
to Brock's coaches when he earned a spot at the
twenty twelve Olympic Trials, a significant milestone for any athlete,

(03:03):
and even though he didn't make the twenty twelve Olympic team,
his stellar performance at the twenty fourteen Junior National Championships
solidified Brock Turner as a rising star with a strong
probability of qualifying for the next Olympics. Academically, Brock was
also diligent, maintaining strong grades on top of its intense

(03:23):
swimming schedule. Whether crushing his coursework or dominating in the pool,
there was absolutely nothing to indicate that this kid was
heading anywhere other than a highly successful future. Many universities
wanted to be in business with young Brock Turner. What
administrator wouldn't want to welcome a standout student and probable

(03:44):
future olympian to their campus. In twenty fourteen, Stanford University
snagged Brock with a scholarship, enticing him with a spot
on their top ten swim team. Now it's worth taking
a moment to explore the achievement that it takes to
attend Stanford University on a sports scholarship or otherwise. With

(04:04):
the current admissions rate of just three point six eight percent,
Stanford is known for rigorous academics and elite athletics. Its
students enjoy a sprawling campus in the heart of Silicon Valley,
featuring world class facilities, cutting edge research centers, and an
environment that fosters innovation and excellence. At the time, Stanford's

(04:26):
athletic teams, known as the Cardinal, competed in the PAC
twelve Conference, which was one of the premier collegiate athletic
conferences in the United States. Stanford had consistently been a
powerhouse within the PAC twelve Conference, and in twenty fourteen,
when Brock joined the university swim team, the Cardinal was
on a roll. The men's soccer team won the nc
DOUAA Championship, the women's basketball team made it to the

(04:49):
NCAA Final Four, and the tennis, golf, and volleyball teams
had also boasted top tier performances. Swim team was also
holding its own in twenty fourteen, just as it always
had done, from four time Olympic gold medalist Janet Evans
to three time Olympic gold medalist Pablo Morales to Jenny

(05:11):
Thompson with her twelve Olympic medals and Katie Ledecki, the
most decorated US female Olympian of all time as of
this recording. Swimming with Stanford was reserved for the Crem
Dela crem Under the guidance of Stanford's head swim coach
Ted Knapp, who had been with the program for over
two decades, Brock quickly advanced his already strong skills in

(05:34):
the pool. He competed in major collegiate meets, consistently posting
impressive times and contributing to the Stanford Cardinals' success. Brock
continued to specialize in the two hundred and five hundred
yard freestyle events, but his abilities had evolved to include
excellence in the sixteen hundred and fifty yard freestyle, a
grueling long distance event that tests a swimmer's endurance. His

(05:58):
rapid progression and remarkable talent put him on the radar
for national titles. Brock was viewed as a strong contender
for the NCAA Championships and recognized as one of the
top freshmen in the Pact twelve. There was no doubt
about it. Brock Turner was turning into one of the
greats at Stanford, holding his own in exceptionally good company.

(06:20):
But as we've seen time and again on playing Dirty,
sometimes good company can be a breeding ground for bad circumstances.
After all, the legacy of excellence at Stanford created an
environment of intense competition and oftentimes painfully high expectations. And
what do most college students do to burn off some

(06:40):
steam when they're feeling overwhelmed. They party. On January seventeenth,
twenty fifteen, Stanford University was a buzz with the typical
energy of a Saturday night, and brock Turner was on
the prow. Students were gathering on all over campus for parties,

(07:01):
ready to let loose after a week of classes and,
in Brock's case, a grueling athletics schedule. Among these gatherings
was a fraternity party at the Kappa Alpha fraternity house
on the southwestern edge of Stanford's Palo Alto campus. Brock
decided to attend. The Kappa Alpha party was wild and

(07:22):
with the fraternity's open motto, God and the Ladies. It's
hardly any wonder that sexual activity was on many attendees' mines.
It was certainly on brock Turner's mind that night as
he met two sisters, Tiffany and Chanelle Miller. Janelle, who
was the older of the two sisters, hadn't planned to
go out that night at all. At twenty two years old,

(07:44):
she had recently graduated from the University of California at
Santa Barbara and had a serious boyfriend in Philadelphia. Hitting
up a Stanford frat party wasn't her top choice, but
as her younger sister Tiffany prepared to go out, Janelle
decided to tag along for her safety. Chanelle would later
remember that on the way to the party, I joked

(08:05):
that undergrad guys would have braces. My sister Tiffany teased
me for wearing a beige cardigan to a frat party
like a librarian. I called myself big Mama because I
knew I'd be the oldest one there. And so Chanelle
and Tiffany found themselves at the same raging Kappa Alpha
fraternity party as brock Turner. On that fateful January seventeenth.

(08:27):
In twenty fifteen, Brock was apparently being aggressive with several women,
and it was later reported that he tried to kiss
Chanelle's younger sister, Tiffany before turning his sights on her.
According to Chanell, I made silly faces, let my guard down,
and drank liquor too fast at the party, not factoring

(08:48):
in that my tolerance has significantly lowered since college. Drinking
too fast is the last thing that Chanelle remembers of
the party. Rock Turner remembers that his party with Chanel
went on. He would later say that Chanelle never seemed
too intoxicated to understand what was going on, and that

(09:09):
when he asked her whether she would like to go
back to his dorm around midnight, she said yes. Brock
says they held hands as they left the party, and
that when she slipped, they both fell down. Once on
the ground, Brock claims they started kissing near a dumpster.
Now it's important to keep in mind that this is

(09:30):
Brock Turner's account of what happened next, as Chanelle Miller
has no recollection of this time. According to Brock, they're
kissing escalated, and he asked whether he could touch her genitals.
Brock says that Chanell provided consent and that when he
asked her if she liked it, she replied, uh huh.
At this point, Brock's account is that they started dry

(09:53):
humping until he started to feel sick from the seven
beers and two SIPs of whiskey he consumed. Jock says
he stumbled away from Chanelle thinking he was going to
be sick, but instead of wretching, Brock came face to
face with Peter Johnson. Now, while we don't have Chanelle's

(10:14):
account of what happened since she blacked out, we do
know that two Swedish graduate students, Peter Johnson and Carl
Frederick Aren't, were concerned enough by what they saw Brock
Turner doing near the dumpster to stop their bikes and
confront him, as they would later tell the Swedish news
outlet Express, and they immediately knew something was wrong. We

(10:37):
saw that the female was not moving while he was
moving a lot, Carl Frederick Aren't said, so we stopped
and thought this is very strange, very strange. Indeed, even
stranger was that after exchanging just a few words, Brock
suddenly turned to run away, from Peter and Carl Frederick.
Now certain that they were privy to a crime and

(10:59):
not a consensual rendezvous, Peter Johnson chased after Brock and
managed to catch up with him, tackling him to the ground.
While they waited for the police to arrive. Carl Frederick
aren't checked on Chanelle's condition. I was right by her face,
Carl Frederick remembered. She was lying on her back with
her hands to the side. She was breathing, Her dress

(11:22):
was pulled up and her legs were spread apart. There
was no response at all. She lay perfectly still. Meanwhile, Peter,
who still had Brock pinned, was horrified that the assailant
wasn't taking the situation seriously. Peter later said, I noticed
that Brock was smiling, so I said, why are you smiling?

(11:42):
Stop smiling? What are you doing? Why would you smile?
She's unconscious. Officers from the Stanford Department of Public Safety
were soon on the scene, trying without success to revive Chanelle. Meanwhile,
officers who were not directly involved with Chanelle's care took
statements from Peter Johnson and called Frederick Arndt. Peter broke

(12:04):
down in tears recounting the incident to authorities, saying it
was a very disturbing event to witness. The ambulance arrived
and Chanell Miller was rushed to the hospital for examination
and treatment. Deputy Sheriff Jeffrey Paul Taylor, the first officer
on the scene, noted that when Chanelle was removed from
the ambulance at Valley Medical Center, her hair was full

(12:27):
of pine needles, so many that they made a trail
on the emergency room floor. As she was taken from
the ambulance to the hospital gurney. At the hospital, Deputy
Taylor shook her shoulders repeatedly trying to wake her. He
shouted to her in a loud voice, please wake up.
Can you help me understand who you are? Despite his efforts,

(12:49):
Chanell Miller remained unresponsive. Both Chanelle Miller and Rock Turner
were tested at the hospital for blood alcohol content. Rock's
level was estimated to have been zero point one seven
to one percent at one am, which was twice the
legal driving limit. Chanelle's blood alcohol concentration, measured several hours

(13:13):
after the assault was point one two percent, that's more
than three times the legal limit. Doctors approximated her intoxication
level at one am, the estimated time of the assault
to have been around point two two percent. According to
Treehouse Recovery PDX, once an individual approaches or passes point

(13:36):
two zero percent, they are at high risk for serious injury, choking, coma,
or death. Between point two zero percent and point two
five percent, the ability to normally function in mind or
body is completely gone. Chanelle Miller finally regained consciousness at

(13:59):
four fteve fifteen am on January eighteenth, twenty fifteen. Deputy
tailor and a Stanford administrator approached her and explained that
she was suspected to be a victim of a sexual assault.
Chanelle did not seem aware of what had happened at all.
She would later describe the harrowing experience of waking up
in the hospital, saying, I had dried blood and bandages

(14:22):
on the backs of my hands and elbow. I thought
maybe I had fallen and was in an admin office
on campus. I was very calm and wondering where my
sister was. A deputy explained I had been assaulted. I
still remained calm, assured he was speaking to the wrong person.
I knew no one at this party. I was asked
to sign papers that said rape victim, and I thought

(14:45):
something has really happened. I wanted to take off my
body like a jacket and leave it at the hospital
with everything else. Chanelle confirmed for the police that she
did not recall being alone with a man during the
night and that she did not consent to any sexual activity.
With lack of consent established, a sexual assault response team.

(15:06):
Nurse examined Chanell and reported that she had abrasions on
her chest, shoulder, buttocks, mid and upper back, and a
small abrasion to her genitals. The nurse determined that Chanell
Miller had experienced significant trauma, including physical injury and penetration trauma.
Officers immediately took Brock Turner into custody and transported him

(15:29):
to the Santa Clara County, Maine jail. Brock initially denied
everything to the police, insisting that his encounter with Chanell
had been consensual, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Most
damning were the statements from Peter Johnson and Carl Frederick Arndt,
as they had witnessed Brock actively assaulting Chanel while she

(15:50):
was unconscious. The physical evidence collected from Chanell at Valley
Medical Center was also conclusive. Brock Turner, who had been
a rising star less than forty eight hours earlier, was
now charged with five felon accounts, including rape of an
unconscious person, sexual penetration with a foreign object of an

(16:11):
unconscious person, and sexual penetration with a foreign object of
an intoxicated person. The severity of the charges underscored the
seriousness of his crime. Bail was set at one hundred
and fifty thousand dollars and Brock was released to await trial.
Word of brock Turner's inconceivable assault on Chanelle quickly spread

(16:35):
through the Stanford community and beyond. He immediately withdrew from
Stanford rather than faced disciplinary proceedings, and on January twentieth,
twenty fifteen, Stanford announced that Brock was banned from campus
per the Stanford Report. The school publicized that Stanford has
conducted an investigation and banned brock Turner from setting foot

(16:57):
on campus as a student or otherwise. This is the
harshest sanction that a university can impose on a student,
with his bright future swiftly extinguished by his own terrible actions.
Brock Turner returned home to a stunned family in Dayton, Ohio.
His older sister, Caroline would later describe the few days

(17:18):
after Brock's release on bail, writing that she watched her
brother become a shell of his former self and that
he was suffering immensely and couldn't sleep alone. But however
endearing those words may sound coming from a doting sister,
it's hard to forget, even for a second, that Chanelle

(17:40):
Miller has a sister too, a sister named Tiffany, who,
when she picked Chanelle up at the hospital in the
morning of January eighteenth, twenty fifteen, had a face wet
from tears and contorted in anguish. As Brock Turner was
being taken into custody and then promptly released on bail.
The hours and days after to the attack for Chanelle

(18:01):
Miller were unbearable. In a letter Chanelle later penned, which
was published by BuzzFeed as well as many other international publications,
she wrote, I tried to push what had happened out
of my mind, but it was so heavy. I didn't talk,
I didn't eat, I didn't sleep, I didn't interact with anyone.
After work, I would drive to a secluded place to scream.

(18:24):
I didn't interact with anyone, and I became isolated from
the ones I loved most. For over a week after
the incident, I didn't get any calls or updates about
that night or what happened to me. The only symbol
that proved that it hadn't been just a bad dream
was the sweatshirt from the hospital in my drawer. Then
one day I was at work scrolling through the news

(18:46):
on my phone and came across an article. In it
I read and learned for the first time about how
I was found unconscious. This was how I learned the
details of what happened to me. Sitting at my desk
reading the news at work, I learned what happened to
me at the same time everyone else in the world
learned what happened to me. And then, at the bottom

(19:09):
of the article, after I learned about the graphic details
of my own sexual assault, the article listed Brock's swimming times.
How infuriating. Chanelle says that at this point she thought,
I'm good at cooking. Put that in the article. I
think the end is where you list your extra curriculars

(19:30):
to cancel out all the sickening things that have happened, Hugh,
But despite some flippant news coverage, there was nothing half
hearted about the prosecution's determination to realize justice for Chanel.
While the rape charges were dropped against brock Turner at
a preliminary hearing on October seventh, twenty fifteen, after DNA

(19:52):
testing revealed no evidence of penal penetration, lead prosecutor Alilai
Keian air Seat still had a evidence to seek conviction
on three remaining felon accounts sexual penetration of an unconscious person,
sexual penetration of an intoxicated person, and assault with intent
to commit rate of an unconscious person. These charges carried

(20:16):
significant potential prison time. Each count of sexual penetration could
result in up to eight years in state prison, while
the assault with intent to commit rape could add another
four years. Altogether, brock Turner faced a maximum sentence of
up to twenty years in prison. Brock's defense team, led

(20:38):
by attorney Mike Armstrong, aimed to portray the incident as
a consensual encounter gone wrong. Given the stakes, attorney Armstrong
knew he had to sell this less damning narrative effectively
to keep his client from becoming middle aged behind bars
and The obvious strategy to sell this version of events
was to lean on the fact that both brock And

(21:00):
and Chanell were intoxicated, and that, given her lack of memory,
there was no way she could prove that she hadn't
willingly participated in the sexual activity. As reported by Mike
dot com, defense attorney Mike Armstrong aggressively asked Chanell Miller
about her height, her weight, her dinner, and he embarked

(21:22):
upon a line of questioning that would seem to suggest
she had it coming. When you drank the quantity of
vodka in the red cup, Attorney Armstrong press, Chanel, you
drank it all down at once. Right after she replied
that she had, the defense attorney continued to drive the
point home, saying, like chugged it and that was a

(21:44):
decision you made right. The defense would attempt to undermine
Chanell's credibility throughout the trial proceedings by highlighting her high
level of intoxication and questioning her ability to recall the
events at all, much less accurately enough to convict of
serious sexual assault. Most concerning to prosecutor A. La le

(22:08):
Keyanairsi per Santa Clara Magazine, was that the defense had
Kim Frami, a clinical psychology professor at the University of
Texas at Austin, testify as an expert witness on behalf
of Brock Turner. Kim Frami conducted research that she believes
shows intoxicated people aren't consent impaired, but memory impaired. This

(22:30):
was an unfortunate reminder of the obstacles victims face when
they attempt to bring their attackers to justice. For prosecutor
Key and Airs, who seemed incredulous that kim Frami would
testify on Brock's behalf as a professor at a university
that has young adults who were greatly affected by these
types of cases. But even though the defense team was
aggressive and exhaustive, the prosecution and Chanell herself refused to

(22:55):
give an inch. In fact, Chanelle would later stand up
in court and bravely addressed this line of attack in
her statement, looking directly at Brock, Chanelle would say, alcohol
was not the one who stripped me, fingered me, had
my head dragging against the ground with me almost fully naked.
We were both drunk. The difference is I did not

(23:17):
take off your pants and underwear, touch you inappropriately and
run away. Chanelle and the prosecution were determined for the
defense not to succeed in presenting brock Turner as a
young man who made a regrettable mistake under the influence
of alcohol. Being young, fresh faced, and a talented athlete

(23:39):
does not excuse intentional sexual criminality. In fact, as the
brock Turner trial reverberated across the country, more and more
women reached out to Professor A la Le Keanersie with
notes for Chanelle, insisting that her fight for justice was
so powerful precisely because brock Turner is the face of

(23:59):
campus sexual assault. Prosecutor Keian Arsi drove this point home
in court, saying, brock Turner may not look like a
typical rapist, but the fact of the matter is, despite
the fact that he comes from a good family, despite
the fact that he went to an elite school, despite
the fact that he was a star swimmer, he is
the typical, quintessential face of campus sexual assault. This is

(24:23):
an important point and one that's worth reflecting upon. Everyone
who has a sister, a daughter, a female friend should
care deeply about the way in which campus sexual violence
is treated. Has society normalized campus crimes against women with
the age old mantra boys will be boys. The stats
certainly paint a grim picture, with an American Psychological Association

(24:47):
study reporting that campus sexual assault makes up a staggering
forty three percent of total on campus crimes in the
US and that up to twenty five percent of all
female college students are victims of campus sexual assault. Let
that sink in. As courtroom tensions heated up, the brock

(25:08):
Turner's story was just getting started, with fresh information still
to be dished out about the swim star's dark side.
Join me Jay Harris to uncover all the dirt, to
find out how the trial played out, and to explore
how the brock Turner scandal continues to resonate on next
week's episode of Playing Dirty Sports Scandals. Playing Dirty Sports

(25:37):
Scandals is a production of Dan Patrick Productions, Never Ever Productions,
and Workhouse Media from executive producers Dan Patrick, Paul Anderson,
Nick Panella, Maya Glickman, and Jennifer Clary, Hosted by Jay Harris,
Written and produced by Jen Brown, Francy Haiks, Maya Glickman,
and Jennifer Clay.