Ex-Vandy player hires attorneys for rape appeal

A former Vanderbilt University football player convicted of raping an unconscious student in June 2013 is replacing two of his attorneys to prepare for an appeal.

Fletcher Long, an attorney who worked for Brandon Vandenburg, confirmed Wednesday he and his trial partner, John Herbison, were no longer working on the case. Vandenburg, 21, was found guilty of rape and other charges in January after a more than two-week trial. Sentencing has been set for April 24. Vandenburg faces decades in prison.

"They hired me to try that case and get a good result and I didn't," Long said. "If you show up at the Derby with a horse you think is a thoroughbred and a winner, and you finish last, you may lose confidence in that horse. If they've lost confidence in me, they need to hire somebody else."

Randall Reagan, an attorney in Knoxville, confirmed Thursday he and Troy Bowlin, an attorney in Morristown, had been hired on the case. Reagan said he came to Nashville on Wednesday to begin working.

Hiring new attorneys for an appeals process is not unusual after criminal convictions.

Judge Monte Watkins, who presided over the trial, has yet to approve a substitution of attorneys request. Albert Perez Jr., a friend of Vandenburg's family who also represented Vandenburg, said he could not comment on "the departure" of Long and Herbison until it was "appropriately before the court."

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