Vanderbilt Rape Case Update: Four former football players plead not guilty on rape charges
(CBS)NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Four former Vanderbilt football players have pleaded not guilty to charges against them in the June 23 rape of an unconscious woman at an on-campus dormitory, CBS affiliate WTFV reports.
Attorneys for Brandon Vandenburg, 20, of Calif., Cory Batey, 19, of Nashville, and Brandon Banks, 18, of Md., entered pleas on their behalf during a Wednesday arraignment. The three were not in the courtroom.
A fourth former football player, Jaborian "Tip" McKenzie, 19, of Woodville, Miss., had reportedly already entered a "not guilty" plea, and waived his right to an arraignment.
Vandenburg, Batey, Banks and McKenzie were indicted August 9 on five counts of aggravated rape and two counts of aggravated sexual battery. Police said there was "compelling, unsettling evidence" against the four. Vandenburg was also charged with one count of tampering with evidence and one count of unlawful photography.
Vanderbilt dismissed the four players June 29 and kicked them off campus pending the investigation by the Metro Nashville Police Department's sex crimes unit.
Suspended Commodore wide receiver Chris Boyd also pleaded not guilty to being an accessory in the incident after allegedly giving advice on how to cover up the crime. An attorney entered Boyd's plea in a separate courtroom. He was suspended from the team after his indictment last week.
The university was made aware of the situation when officials noticed concerning behavior by the defendants on the dorm's hallway surveillance recordings, the station reports.
On Friday, two other California men were also indicted in connection with the case. Nineteen-year-old Miles Joseph Finley and 20-year-old Joseph Dominick Quinzio, both of California, were charged with one felony count each of tampering with evidence. Police said Finley and Quinzio are acquaintances of defendant Brandon Vandenburg.
Finley and Quinzio are accused of tampering with certain electronic evidence in the case, the station reports. Both remain jailed in California on $150,000 bond each and are awaiting extradition to Tennessee.
Quinzio, however, is fighting extradition, The Tennessean reports. His lawyer said a warrant for his client's arrest was based on outdated information and that Quinzio was on the "outskirts" of the case based on a text message he received from one of the defendants, reports the paper.
