Tens of thousands sign petition against Brock Turner’s appeal

Earlier this week, we reported that convicted rapist, Brock Turner, was seeking to have his conviction overturned.

Turner's legal team are insisting that the jury was misled and ultimately exposed to misinformation which resulted in their client's conviction.

Speaking to NBC, Turner's lawyer, John Tompkins, stated the team's position, saying: ‘What we are saying is that what happened is not a crime. It happened, but it was not anywhere close to a crime.’

In response to the appeal, A Care2 petition is asking the California 6th District Court of Appeal not to overturn Brock Turner’s rape conviction.

Explaining the motivation behind the online petition, which has amassed more than 33,000 signatures so far, its creator, Kelsey Bourgeois, insists Turner is a danger to society.

"Brock Turner became famous last year when he raped an unconscious woman behind a dumpster and then was given EXTREME leniency because he was a white, male athlete at Stanford."

“Turner was literally discovered in the act of sexually assaulting a passed out drunk victim. He should have gotten 14 years in California."

"He was sentenced to six months and only served three.Now we wants off the sex offender registry. But he has shown no remorse, and 60 pages of his lawyer's appeal focuses on how drunk his victim was.

"He is a clear and present threat to people around him and he must stay on the sex offender registry.”

Comments beneath the petition point to the public's growing concerns, with one person writing: "I fear this is another step in a shocking trend where laws are beginning to mean nothing in this country."