State appeals sentence in Vanderbilt rape case
Prosecutors have asked for a new sentencing hearing, possibly with a new judge, for former Vanderbilt University football player Cory Batey, who is serving a 15-year prison term in the gang rape of an unconscious woman more than three years ago.
In a motion released Tuesday, prosecutors argue they were not appropriately given notice of letters and messages submitted to a judge in support of Batey prior to his July sentencing hearing.
The motion says 11 emails or letters were sent directly to Criminal Court Judge Monte Watkins before the sentencing but those were not used in court nor turned over to the state. They say they were not allowed to contest the content of those letters and did not get their day in court.
The state's attempt at a re-do may also be motivated, some say, by frustration that Watkins handed down the minimum prison term allowed by Tennessee law on Batey's conviction of aggravated rape.
The state, and the victim, asked that Batey receive the maximum of 25 years.
"I don’t believe the state would have filed this motion had the state been satisfied with the sentence Mr. Batey received," said Jim Todd, a Nashville lawyer who has consulted for The Tennessean as a legal expert on the case. Todd has been a prosecutor and defense lawyer in Nashville for 23 years and said he has not heard of prosecutors ever before making such an appeal.
Cory Batey sentenced to 15 years in Vanderbilt rape case
Deputy District Attorney General Roger Moore and Assistant District Attorney General Jan Norman say in their motion that because they did not know about those letters, the court wrongly relied on those communications in handing down the sentence.
The motion was filed Aug. 15 and kept under seal for weeks before being released Tuesday after a request from The Tennessean.
Prosecutors also want a new judge for the hearing. They suggest Watkins should decide whether he's fit to hear the matter again. If a re-sentencing hearing is granted, Watkins should also weigh whether it should be turned over to another judge "in order to ensure the public's confidence in the impartiality of the Tennessee Criminal Justice System and to further the interests of justice," they said.
Watkins said during the prior hearing that, unlike in other cases, he had been contacted by friends and family expressing how sad this case was.
“This is such a sad, sad case," Watkins said at the time. "And it is. But I couldn’t say that to them.”
Batey's lawyer, Peter Strianse, did not return a call from The Tennessean on Tuesday.
A hearing on the state's motion is scheduled for Thursday.
Todd said there is validity in the state's claim, saying prosecutors should have been given those letters, but instead they were submitted in secret. He said it is likely that Watkins would allow the state to respond to the letters to fix the procedural mistake, but levy the same sentence.
Judge grants mistrial in Vanderbilt rape case
Not allowing the state to contest the letters would give prosecutors stronger foothold for a later appeal.
Four ex-football players were charged in the case in 2013, and two, Batey and Brandon Vandenburg, have gone to trial twice. After a jury found them guilty in January 2015, Watkins declared a mistrial because of an issue with a juror's honesty. Both were again convicted in separate trials.
Vandenburg's sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 30.
Two others, Brandon Banks and Jaborian "Tip" McKenzie, both 22, have pleaded not guilty in the case. Banks' lawyer said this month that plea negotiations were ongoing in hopes of avoiding more trials.
Reach Stacey Barchenger at 615-726-8968 or on Twitter @sbarchenger.