Page 91 - Malcolm Gladwell - Talking to Strangers

Doe: Umm, pretty much empty-minded. I become kind of just a dud, and I’m vacant, not
articulating much. Just standing there. 1
P: Do you have any idea what time this is in the night?
Doe: Maybe around midnight.
It was at that point that Brock Turner approached Emily Doe. He says she was dancing alone. He
says he approached her and told her he liked the way she danced. He says she laughed. He says they
chatted. He says he asked her to dance. He says she said yes. He says they danced for ten minutes.
He says they started kissing.
D: OK. Did she appear to be responsive kissing you back?
Turner: Yes.
D: Did you have any further conversation with her that you remember?
Turner: Yes. I asked her if she wanted to go back to my dorm.
D: OK. And did she respond?
Turner: Yes.
D: What did she say?

Turner: She said, “Sure.”
D: Approximately, this would have been after 12:30 then, right?
Turner: Yes.
D: Did you ever learn her name that night?
Turner: Yes. I asked her her name while we were dancing, but I didn’t remember it.
He says he put his arm around her and the two of them left the party. As they walked across the
back lawn, he says the two of them slipped.
Turner: She just lost her footing and kind of fell down. And she grabbed onto me to try and
prevent her fall and that caused me to fall as well…
D: What happened then?

Turner: We laughed about it and I asked her if she was OK.
D: Did she respond?
Turner: Yeah. She said she thought so.
D: What happened then?
Turner: We started kissing.
Normally, in a sexual-assault case, the prosecution would present witnesses to raise questions
about the defendant’s account. But that didn’t happen in People v. Brock Turner. By that point, Trea
had become so drunk that Emily’s sister and her friend Colleen had taken her back to Julia’s dorm
room. Turner’s friend Peter never made it to the party at all: he was too drunk, and had to be taken
back to his dorm by two of Turner’s other friends. Presumably there might have been other people
at the party who could corroborate or refute Turner’s story. But by this point it was after midnight,
the lights had been lowered, and people were dancing on the tables.
So we have only Turner’s account:
D: What happened then?

Turner: We kissed for a little bit after that, and then I asked her if she wanted me to finger her.
D: Did she reply to you?
Turner: Yes.
D: What did she say?
Turner: She said yeah.…