Chanel Miller Comes Forward as 'Emily Doe' From the Brock Turner Sexual Assault Case
For more than three years after her statement was read at the sentencing hearing in the sexual assault case against Brock Turner, people have known her as "Emily Doe." Now, in her new book, Know My Name, Chanel Miller wants to reintroduce herself to the world.
Back in 2016, her statement made headlines for its honest, powerful account of the effect the assault had on her life. In the statement, she wrote:
"You cannot give me back my sleepless nights. The way I have broken down sobbing uncontrollably if I’m watching a movie and a woman is harmed, to say it lightly, this experience has expanded my empathy for other victims. I have lost weight from stress, when people would comment I told them I’ve been running a lot lately. There are times I did not want to be touched. I have to relearn that I am not fragile, I am capable, I am wholesome, not just livid and weak."
While Turner was found guilty of three counts of felony sexual assault and could have been sentenced to up to 14 years in prison, according to the New York Times, he was sentenced to six months in county jail and only served three. The judge who sentenced Turner received public backlash and was later recalled by voters.
Andrea Schulz, the editor in chief of Viking, the book’s publisher, told the Times, "I jumped out of my chair to acquire [the book] because it was just obvious to me from the beginning what she had to say and how different it was and how extraordinarily well she was going to say it. She had the brain and the voice of a writer from the very beginning, even in that situation."
In order to finish the book, Miller went back and tried to figure out all that happened the night of her assault, including reading court documents and witness testimonies from the trial.
The Times reports that the cover of the book is inspired by the Japanese art of kintsugi, or "golden repair." The art is created by mending broken pottery pieces using lacquer and powdered gold. Schulz told the outlet the process makes a beautiful object out of something that has been broken, while still emphasizing the cracks; it's supposed to represent Miller's recovery from the assault and the trial.
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