Alleged Vanderbilt rape victim: 'That's me' in video

Note to readers: This story contains graphic information from court testimony. It is included in this story to convey what allegedly was done to the victim. This story was originally published on January 22, 2015.

She walked confidently to the witness stand, fueled by encouragement of others saying, "you can do this."

She walked past two men, one whom she dated and another she has never met. Both men, Brandon Vandenburg, 21, and Cory Batey, 20, are former Vanderbilt University football players accused of raping the woman in a Vanderbilt dorm in June 2013.

She walked into the courtroom on Thursday to tell the jury about something she does not remember. The Tennessean is not naming the woman, who is an alleged victim of sexual assault.

She often looked at the jury as she told her story during a dramatic ninth day of the trial of Vandenburg and Batey. The prosecution rested its case Thursday, and Vandenburg's and Batey's attorneys began their own defense as the high-profile trial nears the end of its second week.

For about an hour and a half, she told jurors and a captivated courtroom what she does know.

The woman and her friends, other members of the Vanderbilt Commodores dance team, arrived at the Tin Roof bar about midnight June 23, 2013. She saw Vandenburg, whom she had known for a couple of weeks and dated. She was 21 at the time.

He gave her three drinks and a fourth — a blue drink — that she only sipped, she told jurors. At least one of those drinks came from a woman who several people have testified picked up the alcohol tab for Vanderbilt players.

The alleged victim said she has never been as drunk as she was that night.

She said she does not remember anything after the blue drink.

Until she woke up in a strange room about 8 a.m. the next day.

What allegedly occurred in that time has already come out in court testimony:

Vandenburg and the woman ended up in her car outside his dorm, Gillette Hall, about 2:30 a.m. She was passed out. He asked three men passing by — Batey, Brandon E. Banks and Jaborian "Tip" McKenzie — for help carrying the woman. They put her facedown on the tile floor of Vandenburg's room.

The four former Vanderbilt football players have each pleaded not guilty to five counts of aggravated rape and two counts of aggravated sexual battery. Banks and McKenzie, both 20, are awaiting trial.

What happened next was caught in pictures and videos on Vandenburg's, Banks' and Batey's cellphones. Batey began taking off the woman's clothes and penetrating her with his fingers. Banks began touching the woman's vagina, taking close-up pictures with his cellphone, according to court testimony. Authorities say someone stuck a water bottle in the woman's anus.

Vandenburg was giggling and encouraging the others, saying "squeeze that s..., squeeze that s... ." Banks began squeezing the bottle.

Batey appeared to be penetrating the woman; however, a statement was made that he might not have had an erection.

At some point, Vandenburg and Batey each slapped the woman after commenting she might wake up. The slaps left bruises.

Vandenburg began touching himself and got his laptop to watch pornography, apparently trying to get an erection, according to court testimony. Batey put his hand on the woman's face and stuck his penis in her mouth. He put his buttocks on the woman's face. He raised his middle finger, and someone took a picture.

He got back into position to penetrate her. As a final act, Batey urinated on the woman, according to testimony.

It all lasted about 30 minutes.

With victim support staff from the District Attorney's Office and her mother by her side, the woman sat through each day of trial. She cried when a detective showed the jury photos of her — unconscious, partially nude and face-down on the floor during the alleged rape. She cried when her former roommate took the stand.

But when it was her turn to testify, her voice exuded confidence. She blinked often, tightening the muscles in her brow each time, and hesitated when asked about graphic details. She smiled politely when attorneys flubbed questions.

She told jurors about the day after. She felt nauseated, had vomit in her hair and a gash on her knee. Her body was sore, and some parts, like her shoulder, hurt. She found one of her shoes in the lawn outside her townhouse, the other on steps leading to the complex pool nine homes down.

She told jurors she had sex with Vandenburg the next day. After that, they exchanged text messages.

"He told me that I had gotten sick in his room and he had to clean it up and that it was horrible and that he had to spend the whole night taking care of me and it was horrible," she said. "I apologized. I was embarrassed."

Soon there were rumors on campus about what had happened.

The same day she met with police for the first time, she sent Vandenburg a message asking if he was all right.

"No I'm not," was his reply. "This is all so messed up, like, I didn't do anything and I feel like I'm getting blamed for stuff that didn't happen. I just want to cry."

At first, the woman said, she was trying to protect Vandenburg. He said he might get kicked off the football team, and she replied, "I'll do everything I can to clear your name."

The woman initially refused a medical examination, but police persuaded her to go. She first told police what Vandenburg told her.

A lot has changed since then.

The woman graduated with honors from Vanderbilt and is pursuing her doctorate in another state.

Thursday, some of the video of the alleged rape was shown — again — to the jury. According to testimony, it shows Vandenburg carrying a limp blond woman into a dorm. Some of the footage, the woman said, she had never seen before.

But she watched it Thursday. And this time when the woman was asked to tell her story, she was not trying to protect anyone.

"That's me," she said, her voice unwavering.

Defense tactics

Defense attorneys asked the victim questions about how much she drank the night of the alleged rape and where those drinks came from and whether her prescription medication could have interfered with alcohol.

They also asked why the woman, when interviewed by police about four days later, was hesitant to get a medical exam and did not believe she had been raped.

Staff members at the National Sexual Violence Resource Center watched her testimony. They've seen similar defense tactics in other cases.

"Pointing out how much someone had to drink is the defense's attempt to damage a victim's credibility," Communications Director Tracy Cox said in an email to The Tennessean. "Sadly, it is commonly used as a way to direct the focus away from the person who sexually assaults by shifting the onus onto victims. It implies that a victim is responsible for an assault."

Cox also said that the woman's initial attempt to protect the accused, Brandon Vandenburg, was not unusual. Among college women, nine of 10 victims know their abuser, according to the NSVRC. Some women try to continue relationships to gain control, Cox said.

"We heard today's testimony, and the victim showed extreme courage on the stand," she said.

"In today's proceedings, she was composed and she was nothing short of brave."

Also Thursday, in the ninth day of the trial:

Prosecutors rested their case at about 2 p.m. Thirteen of the 32 people on the state's witness list — most notably co-defendant Brandon E. Banks — were not called to testify.

• Defense attorneys asked for a judgment of acquittal on several charges in the case, saying the state had not put on sufficient evidence or had brought too many charges based on evidence that was presented. Judge Monte Watkins denied those requests.

• For their final witness, prosecutors put Metro police detective Chad Gish back on the stand. He had testified earlier about evidence he recovered from cellphones. This time, he testified about messages Cory Batey sent to teammate Chris Boyd the day after the alleged rape. Boyd was charged and pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to avoid trial.

Those messages included: "We still good? I'm stressing," "Video deleted? Have you talked to her?" and "Tell him don't say nothing to anybody."

What's next

The defense teams will begin the bulk of their case when trial resumes at 9 a.m. Friday. Witnesses for Brandon Vandenburg, whose defense team is going first, include investigators who reviewed Vanderbilt's surveillance system and other technological aspects of the investigation. They are expected to call between one and three witnesses.

Reach Stacey Barchenger at 615-726-8968 or on Twitter @sbarchenger.