Cory Batey takes stand, apologizes in Vanderbilt rape trial

UPDATE 4:23 P.M.: The rape case against two former Vanderbilt University football players will require an additional day after testimony and partial closing arguments on Monday.

On the final day of testimony, defendant Cory Batey testified for nearly three hours.

Assistant District Attorney gave a detailed closing argument for the prosecution and Batey's defense attorney, Worrick Robinson, spoke to jurors for about 75 minutes.

The defense for Brandon Vandenburg has yet to argue closing. And prosecutors will have an additional closing statement on Tuesday before the jury begins deliberations.

The court will open at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday to take up discussions with attorneys.

Cory Batey testified in his own defense Monday morning, apologizing to the woman he is accused of raping and saying he does not remember what happened in a Vanderbilt University dorm on June 23, 2013.

Batey, 20, appeared nervous, often wetting his lips and frequently clearing his throat. Each time he answered an attorney's question, he looked at the jury.

Batey and Brandon Vandenburg, 21, both former Vanderbilt football players, are accused of raping an unconscious woman in Vandenburg's dorm. The woman, who testified in trial last week, does not remember the incident.

According to his testimony, neither does Batey.

He said he woke up the morning after the alleged rape and found graphic pictures on his phone while he got ready to go to church. Batey carried "The Bible Promise Book" with him to the witness stand.

The pictures were previously shown to the jury.

"I was horrified," Batey said Monday morning. "I didn't know how they got there. I didn't know what had happened to the young lady in the pictures and I immediately deleted them."

The victim, who has sat through 11 days of testimony in the trial of Batey and Vandenburg, at one point appeared to vomit during Batey's testimony.

Jim Todd, a Nashville criminal defense attorney who is analyzing the case for The Tennessean, said Batey's testimony was essential to combat the prosecution's evidence in the case: Graphic images of the alleged rape taken by Batey and Vandenburg.

"I think that it's always harder to convict a person as opposed to a name, and before this morning he was a name," Todd said. "If anything he made himself a person and it was good for the jury to hear him and hear him apologize. All that said, I don't think the 'I don't remember' excuse is going to fly."

Jurors have seen the video and photos during trial, which is nearing an end. Closing arguments are expected Monday afternoon.

Two other former football players are also accused in the case: Jaborian "Tip" McKenzie and Brandon E. Banks, both 20. They are awaiting trial. All four men are facing five counts of aggravated rape and two counts of aggravated sexual battery.

This story will be updated.

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