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Cory Batey is one
of four former Vanderbilt football players charged with
aggravated rape and aggravated sexual battery stemming from the
June 2013 incident.
It took jurors just over two hours to reach the verdict.
This was the second trial and conviction for Batey. He and a
fellow former Vanderbilt football player, Brandon Vandenburg,
were found guilty in January 2015 of aggravated rape and
aggravated sexual battery but the judge declared a mistrial
because one of the jurors had failed to disclose that he himself
was a victim of rape.
The victim in the Vanderbilt case, which drew national attention
to sexual assaults on college campuses, had attended a party and
was unconscious during the attack, which occurred in a dorm room
on campus, prosecutors said.
She testified as the final witness on Friday.
The prosecution said it was pleased with the outcome.
"Justice has been done," said prosecutor Tom Thurman.
Batey's attorneys said they planned to appeal. During the trial,
lawyer Courtney Teasley placed the blame on Vandenburg, who she
said used Batey, who was blacked out on alcohol, as his "puppet"
during the incident.
The two had been scheduled to be retried together, but one of
Vandenburg's attorney's had medical issues, causing the cases to
be severed and his retrial set for June.
The trials of the last two accused former players, Jaborian
"Tip" McKenzie and Brandon Banks, are expected to take place
after Vandenburg’s retrial.
Aggravated rape carries a sentence of 15-25 years in prison.
Sentencing is set for May 20.
(Editing by Victoria Cavaliere and Catherine Evans)
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