PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) — A California judge under fire for a light sentence given to a Stanford University swimmer is recusing himself from making his first key decision in another sex case.
The Mercury News reports Monday that Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky filed a statement with the court saying that some people might doubt that he could be impartial.
Persky said last year he would be receptive to Robert Chain's request to reduce his conviction for possessing child pornography from a felony to a misdemeanor.
The judge is the target of a recall campaign that started in June after he sentenced former Stanford swimmer Brock Turner to six months in jail for sexually assaulting an intoxicated woman who passed out behind a trash bin.
Turner could have faced up to 14 years behind bars.