(CNN) - A Stanford University swimmer convicted of sex assault last year wants a new trial.
Brock Turner was released after spending only three months in jail.
The release led to a widespread outcry that his sentence was far too lenient, but his attorneys asked for a new trial on Friday, saying the original one was fundamentally unfair partly because, according to the attorneys, prosecutors repeatedly said that the assault happened behind a trash bin.
The lawyers argued that statement prejudiced the jury because the incident happened in the open, between a trash enclosure and a basketball court.
In a 172-page brief filed Friday in California's Sixth District Court of Appeal, attorneys for Turner also claim Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky should have instructed jurors to consider lesser criminal charges in their deliberations, the San Jose Mercury News reported.
The attorneys also faulted Persky for leaving out testimony from character witnesses that might have swayed jurors.
Turner was convicted of three counts of sex assault for attacking an unconscious woman in 2015 and sentenced by Persky to six months in jail. Persky is facing a recall effort because some claim the sentence was too lenient.
As part of his sentence, Turner was required to register for life as a sex offender.
The sexual assault case became national news partly because the victim in the case, who went unnamed, released a 12-page statement describing her ordeal.
Copyright 2017 CNN. All rights reserved. Raycom News Network contributed to this report.
