Vanderbilt rape retrial: Defense blames alcohol, others
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Cory Batey was like a puppet, so drunk in the early morning hours of June 23, 2013, he could do only what others told him to do inside a Vanderbilt University dorm room, his lawyer told a jury Monday.
“Here is where the puppet meets his masters," defense lawyer Courtney Teasley said. "The two drunkest people in the room become the entertainment for the night."
Then Teasley outlined what she said Batey, a former Vanderbilt football player, was ordered to do to an unconscious woman on the floor: “Put your behind in her face. A picture is snapped. Pose behind her. A picture is snapped. Pose near here. Picture snapped.”
Ongoing coverage: Vanderbilt rape case
Monday marked opening statements and the first day of testimony in the second high-profile trial of Batey, who along with three other former football players, is accused of raping the unconscious 21-year-old woman in a university dorm nearly three years ago.
Batey and Brandon Vandenburg both were found guilty of charges against them last year. A mistrial led to the second trial. Batey pleaded not guilty Monday to five counts of aggravated rape and two counts of aggravated sexual battery. A conviction of aggravated rape carries 15 to 25 years in prison for someone with no prior felony criminal history.
Vandenburg is scheduled for retrial in June. The two others also face charges.
In her 28-minute opening statement, Teasley asked jurors to find Batey not guilty of aggravated rape. She gave a road map for a defense case that suggests they will blame alcohol, technology and three other men charged in the case.
But prosecutors said Batey, 22, knew what he was doing in the room at Vanderbilt's Gillette Hall that night. And one of their first witnesses, who took the stand late Monday, worked to poke holes in Batey's story, countering the defense lawyer's assertion that Batey was drunk.
Deputy District Attorney General Tom Thurman outlined the state's case, giving a 20-minute opening statement nearly identical to the one he delivered at the first trial on Jan. 13, 2015. He described how everything was going right for the woman, until the day that became her "worst nightmare." That nightmare is portrayed in images and video, the state's key evidence.
DA: Victim in Vanderbilt rape case experienced 'worst nightmare'
"Albert Einstein said a person who never made a mistake never tried anything new," Teasley said. She said college is a time to try new things — such as making new friends, experiencing a drunk blackout — and to make mistakes.
But Teasley said some people are unable to learn from mistakes in a world where social media is so prevalent people take pictures of everything: “food, family, a rock."
"With this new technology comes the inability to learn from your mistakes," Teasley said.
Cory Batey retrial: Live coverage of Vanderbilt rape case
Batey did not react during opening statements, nor did jurors. Batey's mother and several family members watched from public seating in Judge Monte Watkins' Nashville courtroom. During breaks, Batey played with his toddler son outside the courtroom.
The woman authorities say was raped was not in court, though she is expected to testify Friday. The Tennessean generally does not name individuals that authorities say are victims of sexual assault.
The second trial is moving along faster than the first. There was one new witness: Gerald "G.L." Black, who oversaw student conduct at Vanderbilt in June 2013.
He testified Monday afternoon, describing how he got involved after campus police found surveillance video showing Batey and football teammates Vandenburg, Jaborian "Tip" McKenzie and Brandon E. Banks going into the room where Vandenburg had carried the woman. McKenzie and Banks are the others who face charges. No trial date has been set for them.
Vanderbilt Police Lt. Donnie Harville described the surveillance video to jurors in about four hours of testimony. He said campus security was investigating a report of vandalism when they spotted the suspicious behavior that later became a sexual assault investigation. A couple jurors appeared to fall asleep during Harville's testimony, which was broken up by long periods of silence while the surveillance video played.
Jurors were read a statement Batey gave to Black on June 25, 2013, and heard a recording of Batey's student conduct interview.
In those Batey denies having anything to drink the night authorities say the alleged sexual assault occurred. Batey told Black during the interview he did not touch the woman and did not take any pictures of her, according to the recording played in court.
Batey said he was leaving his dorm when he ran into Vandenburg, who asked for help with his girlfriend who had passed out in a car. Batey told Black, according to the testimony, he helped his teammate bring the woman in and was in Vandenburg's dorm for "five minutes, maybe."
Vanderbilt rape case: Cory Batey to stand trial alone this week
If Batey chooses to testify, as he did at the first trial, the state will likely use those statements to blast his claim he was too drunk to know what was going on. The defense will likely suggest Batey was lying when he talked to Black and told officials a story Banks had fed to him.
Thurman said in his opening statement that Batey was in the room much longer than five minutes.
"Within a minute of being in that room, Mr. Batey starts assaulting (the woman)," Thurman said.
Thurman said pictures and videos taken by the men and recovered by police show: Batey putting his finger into the woman's vagina and anus, putting his penis into her mouth, penetrating her with his penis. Banks inserting a bottle into the woman's anus. Vandenburg “having a good old time” recording it.
"Then Mr. Batey does the ultimate to degrade the victim, he urinates on her," Thurman said. "That is the end of the 30-minute attack."
Reach Stacey Barchenger at 615-726-8968 or on Twitter @sbarchenger.