Vanderbilt football players in rape case released from jail
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Two former Vanderbilt University football players who were convicted in January of raping an unconscious female student but were then granted a mistrial, have been released on bond.
Melinda McDowell, spokeswoman for the Metro Nashville Jail, said Brandon Vandenburg and Cory Batey were released Wednesday.
Criminal Court Judge Monte Watkins cleared the way for the release by setting bond one day after declaring a mistrial and setting aside the rape convictions because of juror misconduct.
Watkins set bond for Batey, a Nashville native, at $350,000. Bond was set at $400,000 for Vandenburg, of Indio, California. He ordered both to wear GPS monitoring devices.
The declaration of a mistrial Tuesday was a stunning turn of events in a highly publicized case that raised troubling new questions about rape on college campuses and the role of bystanders who fail to act.
Vandenburg and Batey had been convicted of multiple counts of rape. They were accused with two other players of assaulting an unconscious female student in a dorm room in June 2013.
Prosecutors have vowed to retry the pair.
The two other players have yet to stand trial. But Vandenburg and Batey have been held in jail since January after the jury found them guilty on multiple counts of rape and aggravated sexual battery. They were locked up in the local jail awaiting sentencing - both face decades in prison - when revelations surfaced that the jury foreman in the case was himself a victim of sexual abuse.
An attorney who represents the alleged victim in the case declined to comment ahead of their release.
Watkins on Tuesday declared the mistrial after determining that the jury foreman intentionally withheld information about being a victim of statutory rape. In his ruling, Watkins said the justice system cannot tolerate a trial with a tainted juror regardless of the strength of the case.
The trial featured graphic video and photographic evidence showing the unconscious female student being violated in the dorm room. The evidence, prosecutors say, came from footage from the players' cellphones that was taken while the sexual assault was taking place.
The trial also featured testimony from several athletes at the school who saw the female student in distress but failed to call for help.
Both Vandenburg and Batey had made bail before their trial earlier this year. The judge had revoked bail after jurors rendered their verdict.