Vanderbilt University Athletics - Official Athletics Website . The two other men involved Brandon Banks and Jaborian Tip McKenzie were also charged in the case, but have yet to be tried for their alleged involvement, according to WKRN. She said she still has no memory of what happened. Finley was charged with tampering with evidence and after cooperating with authorities, took a deal last year and pleaded guilty to a reduced charge. The evidence, prosecutors say, came from footage from the players' cellphones that was taken while the sexual assault was taking place. The sentencing comes amid widespread furor over a Stanford University swimmer who was sentenced to six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman on a college campus. Batey's defense said the photos and videos don't actually show him having sex with the woman and one of his lawyers blamed a college culture so accepting of binge drinking that many people saw the unconscious woman that night but did nothing to help. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Watkins declared the mistrial after determining the jury foreman intentionally withheld information about being a victim of statutory rape. Vandenburg was taken into custody at the Nashville International Airport upon his arrival into the city on Saturday, according to a police statement. They were locked up in the local jail awaiting sentencing both face decades in prison when revelations surfaced that the jury foreman in the case was himself a victim of sexual abuse. July 15, 2016, 10:50 AM. Former Vanderbilt football player Brandon Vandenburg has been sentenced to 17 years in prison after being found guilty in Nashville, Tennessee, on five counts of aggravated rape, two counts of aggravated sexual battery and one count of unlawful photography, according to several reports. Assistant District Attorney Jan Norman read a statement from the victim, who was not present at sentencing. The declaration of a mistrial on Tuesday was a stunning turn of events in a highly publicized case that raised troubling questions about rape on college campuses and the role of bystanders who fail to act. "I was just drunk out of my mind," Batey said. Cory Batey weeps during his sentencing hearing Friday, July 15, 2016, in Nashville, Tenn. Batey, a former Vanderbilt University football player, was sentenced . I was scared and uncomfortable and didnt know what to do, Prioleau said during his 2015 testimony. -- The defense team for Brandon Vandenburg, one of the former Vanderbilt University football players who was convicted this week of raping a female classmate, is now trying to get the verdict thrown out after discovering one of the jurors did not disclose he or she was a sexual assault victim. In other words, the Vanderbilt rape case started with a disgustingly despicable sexual assault. [22][6], A fifth player, Chris Boyd, pleaded guilty in September 2013 to being an accessory after the fact by encouraging his teammates to keep quiet and destroy evidence of the rape, and was dismissed from the team but not the university for his role in helping cover up the rape. One of the three former players, Corey Batey, has been convicted and is in prison. Earlier, one of the defense attorneys conceded that Vandenburg took "deplorable" photos, but shouldn't be convicted of rape because he didn't take part in it. Oh, please. One thatcould have been prevented if even just ONE of the four men had a brain (or a conscience). [26], Mack Prioleau, the roommate of one of the defendants, Vandenburg, was in the room when the rape occurred. Each was charged with five counts of aggravated rape and two counts of aggravated sexual battery. Team 3 Spring Schedule Set. Butrecovered footage from cell phones waspresented in court andsecurity cameras caught very disturbing footage of the moments leading up to, and after, the attack. The Vanderbilt case is set to begin Monday in a Davidson County courtroom with jury selection. Three of the rapists were convicted, and received prison sentences ranging from 15 years, the minimum allowed by Tennessee law for their crimes, to 17 years. Criminal Court Judge Monte Watkins cleared the way for the players release a day after declaring a mistrial because of juror misconduct and setting aside their rape convictions. Ex-Vanderbilt College football player Brandon Banks sentenced to 15 years in prison. The four men are charged with raping an unconscious victim inside Vandenburg's Gillette House dorm room on June 23, police said. The one-time running back was arrested Nov. 18, 2019, after ex-girlfriend . [12], Appeals by Batey, Vandenburg, and Banks to the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals in efforts to have their convictions overturned were unsuccessful in 2019. 2023 Cable News Network. [12] Prioleau was charged as an accessory to the crime and received one year of unsupervised probation. A statement from the victim is read at the hearing. Bipartisan Senate group unveils rail safety bill in response to Ohio derailment, Ex-Vanderbilt football players found guilty in gang rape, Closing arguments begin in double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh, Where things stand in the Alex Murdaugh double murder trial. The former receiver was released after posting $50,000 bond, according to jail records. -- A former Vanderbilt football player was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison after he was convicted of taking part in the gang rape of an unconscious female student. The jury deliberated for about three hours before finding Brandon Vandenburg and Cory Batey guilty. [10][9] The victim (who is white) told the court that after Batey (who is black) raped her, he urinated on her face while saying she deserved what he was doing to her because of the color of her skin, saying what sources reported was "Thats for 400 years of slavery, you bitch. The former players were indicted on multiple counts of rape and sexual battery. Five team memberstwo now convictedwere accused of a horrific sexual assault in 2013, raping an unconscious undergraduate in a freshman dorm and urinating on her face. What happened in the Vanderbilt rape case? Theydid nothing. McKenzie testified that he did not touch the woman himself but took pictures. Vandenburg says in statement, directed at judge Monte Watkins, "I hope you can see I'm truly sorry" @WKRN pic.twitter.com/AQVLZaxvQR. Two other former players, Brandon Banks and Jaborian McKenzie, have been charged but are yet to face trial in the case. Can no onecome up witha more efficient process that considersthe well-being of the victim? Vandenburg is currently serving 17 years and Bateys serving 15 years as well. Thank you for subscribing to ENTITY. McKenzie turned himself in at 8:30 a.m. Saturday. Batey and Brandon Vandenburg were convicted last year, but the verdicts were tossed because a juror did not reveal he was a victim of statutory rape. Thesewerent just innocent bystanders who witnessed the various stages of the horrific crime. And inside his room, the woman was assaulted by multiple people, as prosecutors described Vandenburg as a cheerleader and orchestrator. The judge delivered the minimum sentence to. First published on January 27, 2015 / 6:29 PM. After Vanderbilt football finished one victory short of a postseason invitation in 2022, the team expects to be bowling at the end of the 2023 season. The Associated Press does not generally identify victims of sexual assault. Batey, a former safety on the team, was arrested at his Nashville home on Friday around 3:30 p.m., taken for a blood test, and then booked into Davidson County Sheriff's Office on a $350,000 bond. I'm just sorry.". So that was good. Correction. A jury has found two former members of the Vanderbilt University football team guilty of multiple . Prosecutors played a recording from Miles Finley, a friend of Vandenburgs, who described sexually explicit videos and texts he received from Vandenburg the night of the assault, according to The Tennessean. He is out on bond & is a student at Alcorn State University https://t.co/nIRHEe6pNJ pic.twitter.com/7beac2fKuI, WSMV-TV, Nashville (@WSMV) June 20, 2017. Garland testifies before Senate panel amid ongoing special counsel probes, Colon cancer rates rising in younger age group, study finds, Top McCarthy aide, House Oversight chair each met with Ashli Babbitt's mother, What to know about Shigella bacteria as drug-resistant strain spreads, Closing arguments underway in double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh, Ex-Georgia star Jalen Carter was racing in deadly crash, arrest warrants allege, Fiery train crash in Greece kills dozens, many of them students. He told the court he was an inexperienced drinker when he got to college, according to WKRN. Watkins set bond for Batey, a Nashville native, at $350,000. Ex-Vanderbilt, NFL player Zac Stacy arrested after violent video surfaces, records show The incidents occurred in August and September. Vandenburg was also charged with tampering with evidence and unlawful photography. She wept throughout much of her statement as she described how her life and her belief in the fundamental goodness of people were both upended with the discovery of what happened to her. 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