NEWS

Detective IDs men in images of alleged rape in Vanderbilt dorm

Stacey Barchenger
sbarchenger@tennessean.com

The prosecutor asked the detective to describe the next image.

"This is the alleged victim laying in Vandenburg's dorm room on the tile floor. She's completely nude from the waist down," Metro Police Detective Chad Gish began.

It was as if the air in the courtroom had thickened. The lights had been dimmed to help 14 jurors see the pictures on a 70-inch TV screen.

Gish spoke slowly, in a deep, sometimes gravelly voice. His forehead crinkled above his right eye.

For about an hour Friday afternoon, Gish described a series of photos: The "incapacitated" victim at times face down on the cluttered dorm room floor. Two men sexually assaulting her. Three men photographing her. One man raising his middle finger while he sat on the woman.

Gish's graphic testimony was a Friday-afternoon cliffhanger in the trial of Cory Batey, 20, and Brandon Vandenburg, 21, two former Vanderbilt University football players accused of raping a female student on campus in June 2013. The trial continues Monday.

Both men are accused of five counts of aggravated rape and two counts of aggravated sexual battery. Brandon E. Banks and Jaborian "Tip" McKenzie, both 20, are facing the same charges and are awaiting trial. All four men have pleaded not guilty.

Gish examined all four men's cellphones in the weeks after the alleged rape. A colleague, Detective Jason Mayo, had given him surveillance video from a Vanderbilt University dorm where the rape allegedly took place. Mayo, the lead case detective, testified earlier Friday that he collected cellphones from the four men as evidence in the investigation. He also collected a white watch from Batey's dorm room.

Something Gish found on Vandenburg's phone tipped him off to look further.

Vandenburg's iPhone's internet history included searches three days after the alleged rape, Gish said. He testified one of the searches included: "can police retrieve deleted picture messages."

Gish knew that iPhones can save thumbnail images in databases, even when the original images have been deleted.

Looking for the thumbnails was his next step. He did the same search in phones owned by Batey, Banks, and McKenzie. Explicit images of the alleged rape were found on all but McKenzie's phone, Gish said.

The detective testified: Nine photos were taken from Vandenburg's phone. Seven from Batey's phone. Fourteen from Banks' phone. Some of the thumbnails were from videos that the jury has not yet seen.

The alleged victim sobbed quietly as, for about an hour, Assistant District Attorney Jan Norman methodically showed Gish and the jury those images on a big screen. With each new picture, Norman asked Gish to describe what was in the image.

The TV was turned away from the public in the courtroom. Per Judge Monte Watkins' prior ruling, the graphic images would only be revealed to those who needed to see them.

At times during the testimony, Batey looked to his right, toward the bench where his mother, uncles and some cousins were seated.

Jurors squinted and scribbled notes in Steno books as Gish identified the men in the images as Batey, Banks and McKenzie. He said he knew who the men were because of their clothing, which he had seen in dorm surveillance video. A Vanderbilt policeman had previously testified, identifying the men in the video as the defendants.

Norman put up the 14th image found on Banks' phone. Gish identified Batey assaulting the woman.

"You can see his white watch there," Gish told the jury.

ALSO DURING FRIDAY'S COURT SESSION

•Judge Monte Watkins addressed defense allegations that the state's indictment of Vandenburg and Batey was not accurate. Watkins said the indictment was accurate and the defense had plenty of notice as to what the state's case would include. The issue may resurface: "If the facts bear out something different, that's what the jury is going to be charged with," Watkins said.

•Metro Police Detective Jason Mayo told the jury about his role leading the investigation of the alleged rape. He was called to assist Vanderbilt University police on June 26, three days after the alleged incident, after university officers found suspicious surveillance video.

•Mayo said he suggested the victim go for a medical exam. He said the exam occurred 80 to 90 hours after the alleged rape and that the preferred time period to do an exam is within 72 hours. The nurse who gave the exam is expected to testify in this trial.

•Mayo collected the victim's clothing, Cory Batey's watch, Brandon Vandenburg's computer and cellphones from all four defendants and the alleged victim. Prosecutors gave most of those items, shrouded in brown evidence bags, to Mayo in court.

WHAT'S NEXT

Trial will resume at 9 a.m. Monday, even though it is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Detective Chad Gish is expected to continue his testimony.

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