NEWS

Lawyer for Cory Batey asks to be removed for appeal

Stacey Barchenger

sbarchenger@tennessean.com

Attorney Worrick Robinson speaks during Cory Batey’s sentencing where he received 15 years in the Vanderbilt rape case in Judge Monte Watkins' courtroom in the A. A. Birch building July 15, 2016 in Nashville, Tenn.

The primary lawyer for Cory Batey, a former football player convicted of raping an unconscious woman at Vanderbilt University, is asking to be removed from the case.

Worrick Robinson, Batey's lawyer, said he made the request because he does not do appeals. A hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday.

Batey, 22, was found guilty after a trial in April and sentenced last month to 15 years in prison. Tennessee Department of Correction records show he is being housed at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.

Changing lawyers after a conviction is not unusual. Brandon Vandenburg, another former football player charged in the case, changed his lawyers after being found guilty in a January 2015 trial. Batey was also found guilty in that trial.

But an issue with a juror's honesty led to a mistrial, and both men stood trial separately a second time. Both were found guilty; Batey in April and Vandenburg in June. Vandenburg, 23, is scheduled to be sentenced by Criminal Court Judge Monte Watkins on Sept. 30.

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