Vandy rape case update

[jbcarol]

Stacey Barchenger ‏@sbarchenger 19m19 minutes ago

Memphis jury to hear second Vanderbilt rape retrial http://tnne.ws/26uJH0c  via @tennessean #vandytrial #vandyretrial

Stacey Barchenger ‏@sbarchenger 21h21 hours ago

Brandon Vandenburg's trial still on for June 13 in Nashville. Jury selection the week before in Memphis. #vandytrial #vandyretrial

[jbcarol]

 Stacey Barchenger ‏@sbarchenger 20h20 hours ago

My brief update from today: Delay likely in Cory Batey sentencing http://tnne.ws/1TAx6l3  via @tennessean #vandytrial #vandyretrial

A delay of the May 20 sentencing of Cory Batey is likely, a lawyer working on the case said Friday morning.

Prosecutors met with Judge Monte Watkins in chambers Friday morning.

Deputy District Attorney Tom Thurman said that the May 20 sentencing of Batey would likely change because of conflicts in both his and the defense lawyers' schedules.

The jury in Vandenburg's trial will be chosen in Memphis. Vandenburg is living in California and did not appear in court.

He and three others were charged in the rape of an unconscious woman in a Vanderbilt University dorm on June 23, 2013.

He and Batey, both 22, went to trial together in January 2015 but a mistrial was declared. Batey was found guilty of seven counts, including aggravated rape, after a trial earlier this month.

[Batey] faces 15 to 25 years in prison.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/sbarchenger/status/731164717419528192

Defense is arguing for judge to allow their digital forensics expert to testify; DA says they missed deadline to give notice.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/sbarchenger/status/730736558752567296

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/sbarchenger/status/733041959225458688

Nashville judge says no references to date-rape drugs will be allowed in the upcoming retrial of former Vanderbilt University football player Brandon Vandenburg.

Vandenburg's lawyers, Randall Reagan and Troy Bowlin, made the request. The ruling halts prosecutors' ability to suggest a woman raped while she was unconscious in Vandenburg's dorm room had been given a drug.

In the April trial of Cory Batey, another football player who was found guilty in the case, prosecutors asked medical professionals and evidence examiners to talk about the drugs generally.

Criminal Court Judge Monte Watkins said in an order Wednesday that "there is no evidence to substantiate a date-rape drug being administered to the alleged victim. Moreover, the Court finds that any testimony regarding the drug would be based on mere speculation."

Prior trial testimony was that the woman did not know she was raped and did not get a medical exam until three days later. A nurse and detective testified in Batey's trial that the drugs would have left her body by then.

Vandenburg, Batey and two other former players were charged with aggravated rape and aggravated sexual battery in the June 23, 2013, gang rape.

Watkins also:

    granted the prosecutors' motion to redact statements Vandenburg made to Vanderbilt student conduct officials and lead investigator Metro police detective Jason Mayo.
    granted the defense request to present a digital technology expert to counter testimony presented by the state (the state's key evidence is deleted photos and videos of the rape recovered by Mayo).
    denied defense requests to call a psychiatrist to testify about Vandenburg's mental condition.

Vandenburg's retrial is scheduled to start June 13. The jury will be selected June 8 and 9 in Memphis and sequestered in Nashville during trial.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/sbarchenger/status/738806577990389760

A new motion hearing in the retrial of former Vanderbilt University football player Brandon Vandenburg is scheduled for Monday, just two days before jury selection is set to begin in Memphis.

Vandenburg, 22, is charged with aggravated rape, aggravated sexual battery and other counts in the rape of an unconscious woman in his dorm room on June 23, 2013. Another former player, Cory Batey, was found guilty in the rape after a trial in April.

The pending motions involve what evidence can be used in Vandenburg's trial, but further details are unclear. Prosecutors and a lawyer for Vandenburg said they could not comment.

Jury selection in the case is still scheduled to begin Wednesday, and Vandenburg's trial is on as scheduled for June 13 in Nashville.

Two other former players charged in the case, Brandon E. Banks and Jaborian "Tip" McKenzie, have not been scheduled for trial.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/sbarchenger/status/739265153087250433

Prosecutors had recommended that Turner receive a sentence of six years, but judge Aaron Persky determined that Turner's age — 20 — and lack of criminal history warranted him a much shorter sentence.

"A prison sentence would have a severe impact on him," Persky said at Turner's sentencing on Thursday. "I think he will not be a danger to others." Meanwhile, the 23-year-old victim in the rape case, who had had a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit at the time of the rape and who had no memory of the attack, gave important testimony at the trial.

"You took away my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my safety, my intimacy, my confidence, my own voice, until today," she said, reportedly directly to Turner. "I am a human being who has been irreversibly hurt." And yet it's Turner who would be severely impacted in his sentencing? Right.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/sbarchenger/status/739819960965423104

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/sbarchenger/status/739876072406257665

Lawyers gathered Monday to debate last-minute motions before the trial of former Vanderbilt University football player Brandon Vandenburg begins with jury selection on Wednesday.

Vandenburg's trial is still expected to begin June 13.

Vandenburg, 22, is charged with aggravated rape, aggravated sexual battery and other counts in the rape of an unconscious woman in his on-campus dorm room on June 23, 2013. Jury selection in his retrial is scheduled to begin Wednesday in Memphis. Shelby County jurors will be sequestered in Nashville during trial.

Digital evidence: The defense asked for the raw data pulled from the cellphones of any witnesses the state planned to call during trial...
Ruling: Judge Monte Watkins says the defense has everything the state is obligated to provide. Watkins denies defense motion.

Psychiatrist expert: Vandenburg's lawyer Troy Bowlin argued that J. Sidney Alexander, a psychiatrist from Knoxville, should be able to testify. Alexander would testify about Vandenburg's intoxication during the incident. The defense had asked this before but Watkins denied it.
Ruling: Watkins said he would rule on this motion Tuesday morning.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/sbarchenger/status/740694155525914624

Missed coming to Arkansas by that much:

https://twitter.com/sbarchenger/status/740543364685168640

[jbcarol]

Stacey Barchenger Verified account
‏@sbarchenger

Shelby County deputies tried to keep me out of jury selection. I objected (because it's public), and Nashville court officers intervened.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/sbarchenger/status/742349768475697152

Stacey Barchenger ‏@sbarchenger 8m8 minutes ago

Y'all if ever there was a metaphor for how this case is moving along: Court officer removes clock from courtroom wall. #vandytrial

[jbcarol]

Stacey Barchenger ‏@sbarchenger 2h2 hours ago

Deputy DA Thurman's opening state starts SAME as both prior trials. Woman was in "great place in her life" until day of rape. #vandytrial

Thurman emphasizing Vandenburg's role encouraging rape: Watching porn, laughing at woman, says "we're gonna F this bitch."

Vandenburg tried to cover up the rape, Thurman says, by having sex with woman next day.

Jury is spunky! Watkins asks how lunch was today, they practically yell "GREAT." Defense openings starting now.

Lawyer Randy Reagan painting picture of Vandenburg as small town kid on a big-time football scholarship, in over his head.

.@reaganlaw: "Brandon Vandenburg didn't know that even though he was 6-foot 6-inches tall he would get in over his head."

Reagan: "You've got to remember he's 2000 miles away from home. The only people he knows are his mentors," who taught him to party, drink.

Vandenburg, woman were drunk. "Mr. Vandenburg wants to take her back to his room so she would have a place that's safe to sleep"

Defense blames other 3 players: "They agreed to help," after Vandenburg was carrying woman to dorm. "They were going to help themselves."

Reagan says Vandenburg did things he should not have, including taking pictures of the woman partially naked.

[jbcarol]

Stacey Barchenger ‏@sbarchenger 49m49 minutes ago

"Mr Vandenburg maybe could have stopped it," Reagan says, adding state wants convictions for actions of people Vandenburg didn't know.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/sbarchenger/status/742520256351047680

"Mr. Vandenburg wants to take her back to his room so she would have a place that's safe to sleep," Randall Reagan said in his opening statement in Vandenburg's retrial.

Defense lawyers and prosecutors agree that what happened in that dorm room in the early morning hours of June 23, 2013, was anything but safe: that former football players sexually assaulted the woman while she was unconscious.

But they disagree about 22-year-old Vandenburg's role. The defense says he was a young man overcome by pressure to drink and party and became a witness to a violent plan carried out by three teammates. Prosecutors say he was the leader, coaching the others to assault the woman on his dorm room floor.

"As soon as they get in the room Mr. Vandenburg says we're gonna 'F' this b----," Deputy District Attorney General Tom Thurman said.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/sbarchenger/status/742699457226100736

[jbcarol]

Stacey Barchenger ‏@sbarchenger 2m2 minutes ago

Today: I expect to get to testimony of key police investigators, maybe including first-time look at what Vandenburg told them.

Stacey Barchenger ‏@sbarchenger 45s45 seconds ago

Today starts with cross-exam of Vanderbilt Police Capt Harville, who found surveillance video of men carrying woman into dorm. #vandytrial

Stacey Barchenger ‏@sbarchenger 19h19 hours ago

Next witness: Capt. Donnie Harville, with Vanderbilt PD. Last trial he was lieutenant. Must've been promoted.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/sbarchenger/status/742753170179424257

The best way to start is with a confession on my own failure, because failure is everywhere when it comes to sexual assault and college athletics.

A few years ago, two Michigan State male athletes were investigated for sexual assault, a probe that yielded no charges, no confirmation of their identities and no stories at my newspaper, per a sensible decision made above my head...

When the Ingham County prosecutor told me — off the record — about all the information his department gathered that convinced them not to pursue charges, I was satisfied.

So it was back to writing about sporting glory, with no effort to track down a woman who told police she was raped. Times like this, with sexual assault and college athletics making news together so relentlessly, bring that moment to mind and make me angry with myself...

For decades, college administrators and coaches have been involved in arranging, or at least allowing, the use of "hostesses" to entice recruits. "This is for you," they implied to those recruits about those women.

There are Title IX investigations in various stages at more than 120 universities, Tennessee and Vanderbilt and Michigan State and the University of Michigan included.

The horrific details of the Vanderbilt rape trial — former Vandy football player Cory Batey has been convicted of aggravated rape and former player Brandon Vandenburg is being retried this week -— and the issues at Tennessee illuminated by a Title IX lawsuit will keep this story local. And emotional.

We need to get some results out of this. The people who run things in college athletics can't be allowed to treat these situations like annoying obstacles to winning anymore. This isn't a booster giving 100 bucks to an athlete.

We need prompt, earnest and fair reactions to allegations. We need meaningful education on sexual assault and violence.

We desperately need an end, once and for all, to using women as a recruiting enticement — such an obvious contributor to the culture that can twist the views of a teenager already swimming in entitlement...

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/sbarchenger/status/742779727098810373

Defense claimed Vandenburg was "in over his head"

[jbcarol]

Stacey Barchenger ‏@sbarchenger 3h3 hours ago

Jury listening to recording of Vandenburg's statement. He says they both were drunk and couldn't get into her apartment. #vandytrial

Black asks why Vandenburg covered hallway camera. Prior testimony: He put towel on camera while putting woman into his bed after incident.

Why? Vandenburg: "There was a girl passed out in my room and I don't know, I didn't think it was the best image I guess."

Vandenburg says he doesn't remember other teammates - Dillon Van der Wal, DeAndre Woods, Chris Boyd - coming over to help w/ woman.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/sbarchenger/status/742891995170021380

"Have a seat. ... Brandon, I am detective Jason Mayo. I work for the Metro Nashville Police Department."

That's how Mayo began an interview with former Vanderbilt University football player Brandon Vandenburg on June 27, 2013. It was four days after prosecutors say Vandenburg encouraged the gang rape in his dorm room of an unconscious woman he'd been dating.

Jurors on Tuesday heard part of that interview during the second day of Vandenburg's retrial on charges of aggravated rape, aggravated sexual battery and unlawful photography.

The 14 jurors, including two alternates, flipped through pages of transcripts as the audio played. One peered occasionally toward Vandenburg, who sat across the courtroom and behind his row of four lawyers.

Mayo told Vandenburg: The interview was to fill in the gaps.

And he played the role of good cop, trying to befriend Vandenburg to tell him what had happened in the room.

Vandenburg told him how he and the woman, who was 21 at the time, had been dating since the tight end football recruit arrived on campus about two weeks earlier. They met on his first visit to campus, he told Mayo.

The night of the rape, they'd been drinking together.

He drove the woman to his dorm, Gillette Hall, and asked football teammates he saw for help to get her inside. When the detective asked if Vandenburg was drinking in the car, Vandenburg said he was not comfortable answering the question.

Mayo moved on.

"I saw them, I was like 'hey, I need help,' " Vandenburg said. He identified the men as "Cory, Tip and Brandon Banks." Vandenburg said he did not know two of the men's last names. Prosecutors later charged Cory Batey, Jaborian "Tip" McKenzie and Brandon E. Banks in the case. Batey was found guilty in April, and the others are awaiting trial.

Vandenburg said the woman was vomiting and they put her in his bed, talked for 20 to 30 minutes and then left. He said he went to sleep in another room because of the vomit.

Mayo asked whether Vandenburg took any pictures.

"I might have taken a picture, but it wasn't on my phone the next morning," Vandenburg answered. "If I did, I might've deleted it."

Metro Police detective Chad Gish, who previously testified he recovered photographs of the rape from Vandenburg's phone, is expected to testify Wednesday.

Mayo pressed Vandenburg for more answers.

"Brandon, I want to be real honest with you right now. When I said earlier that today is a really good day to help yourself, I really meant that. I saw the footage."

Mayo said he was with the woman a day prior when she took a medical examination known as a rape kit. He said the surveillance video from after the incident shows Vandenburg "starting to cry almost."

"You're not happy at that point," he said. "You're upset. You don't like what was going on. But now we have to talk about what happened. We got to know. We got to know what happened to this girl. She has the right to know. And she doesn't remember a thing."

"I don't trust them," Vandenburg replied. "The guys that were with me, I don't trust them."

Deputy District Attorney General Roger Moore cut off the recording, leaving a cliffhanger in the courtroom at 5 p.m. Tuesday. The jurors, who are sequestered, were dismissed to their hotel.

Jurors will finish hearing the interrogation with Vandenburg, when the trial resumes Wednesday.

Wednesday is Vandenburg's 23rd birthday.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/sbarchenger/status/743055790743773184

[jbcarol]

Stacey Barchenger ‏@sbarchenger 47s47 seconds ago

Vandenburg: "I wish I just would have left her out in front of the dorm room on the floor. I should've been an [CENSORED]." #vandytrial

Vandenburg: "I just can't believe I got here 3 weeks ago and I'm in this situation. I'm never going out again. I don't even drink normally."

[jbcarol]

Stacey Barchenger ‏@sbarchenger 21m21 minutes ago

Mayo met with victim. "In the presence of counselors, I informed her that she had been raped. Or sexually assaulted." #vandytrial

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/sbarchenger/status/743244716016304128

"She was on the floor, they turned her over and were just messing with her. Slapping her. Slapping her butt. Fingering her and sh--," Vandenburg told police.

Prosecutors played for jurors Wednesday a recording of his June 27, 2013, interview with Metro Nashville Police detective Jason Mayo.

Vandenburg, who turned 23 on Wednesday, is on trial on charges of aggravated rape, aggravated sexual battery and unlawful photography stemming from the June 23, 2013, incident. Jurors heard the first half of his interview Tuesday and the rest Wednesday. It was the first time Vandenburg's statement to police was revealed. In it, he acknowledges what happened.

"She got sexually assaulted right in front of me," he told the detective. "And I didn't do anything. I should've called someone."

Vandenburg was not the only one who did not speak up that night.

Prior trial testimony has shown that at least five other men — three Vanderbilt athletes and two of Vandenburg's friends in California — saw the woman partially clothed or knew what happened to her but did not report it.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/sbarchenger/status/743166119532445696

Stacey Barchenger ‏@sbarchenger 17h17 hours ago

Gish examined internet history on Vandenburg's phone: "The google search was 'can police recover deleted picture messages.'" #vandytrial

Gish says though deleted iPhone pics are gone for good, they leave artifacts, like: They're named in sequence. Missing numbers are a clue.

Gish: "Although the original images had been deleted, he couldn't delete the thumbnail database."

Gish found nine thumbnails on Vandenburg's phone. Some are stills of video clips. Jury will see those now.

Gish: Four internet searches for porn on Vandenburg's laptop while surveillance video showed men in his dorm.

Gish is talking at length without being asked questions; he's giving this testimony - in this case - for the third time today.

[jbcarol]

 Stacey Barchenger ‏@sbarchenger 28m28 minutes ago

Gish says Vandenburg called Batey at 4:13 a.m. (~ 90 minutes after rape)...

Gish examined Austyn Carta Samuels' phone (previously said Vandenburg sent ACS one video). "Wasn't anything related to incident"

Did same exam on Chris Boyd's phone (he was also sent video, per Gish). Didn't find any evidence of rape, Gish says.

https://twitter.com/sbarchenger/status/743479309315227648

[jbcarol]

Stacey Barchenger ‏@sbarchenger 50s50 seconds ago

Vandenburg texted victim 3 days after: "ok great this is such a mess I'm never helping anyone get home ever" #vandytrial

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/sbarchenger/status/743508759713038336

[jbcarol]

Stacey Barchenger ‏@sbarchenger 17m17 minutes ago

Wait: Joseph Quinzio (California friend) may be next/coming in now. Gish is not done, but next witness has scheduling issue. #vandytrial

Norman: Do you know Mr Brandon Vandenburg? Quinzio: Yes
Norman: How long have you known him? Quinzio: Since I was about 13.

Quinzio talks like a cop/lawyer: "Mr. Vandenburg returned to California and proceeded to obtain the videos and my computer."

State is done with direct exam of Quinzio. Was quick. Key point: He confirms Vandenburg destroyed phone, bought him new one

[jbcarol]

Stacey Barchenger ‏@sbarchenger 24m24 minutes ago

State objects to Reagan's ask to play voicemail Vandenburg left for Quiznio during incident. Lawyers going to the back. #vandytrial

[jbcarol]

Stacey Barchenger ‏@sbarchenger 58m58 minutes ago

Jaborian "Tip" McKenzie - co-defendant - on the stand now. He's two classes short of graduating from @AlcornStateU he says. #vandytrial

Stacey Barchenger ‏@sbarchenger 52m52 minutes ago

As Batey takes woman's clothes off, McKenzie testifies "he (Vandenburg) said we're gonna ---- her."

Jury's read of McKenzie's credibility key. McKenzie IDs Vandenburg on video telling others in room "squeeze that ----"

McKenzie: Vandenburg was "amped and aggressive and bossy." Vandenburg slapped woman and said she wouldn't wake up.

McKenzie says he lied in prior statements to officials: "There was kind of a culture to protect the team and your friends."

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/sbarchenger/status/743565345391259648

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/sbarchenger/status/743779089484480512

Brandon Vandenburg was "amped and aggressive and bossy" in his Vanderbilt University dorm room as other men sexually assaulted an unconscious woman, a man charged in the case said Thursday.

"I made a statement that she would wake up," Jaborian "Tip" McKenzie said. "Brandon Vandenburg made a statement she's not going to wake up, and he reached over and slapped her."

McKenzie testified against his former football teammate in the fourth day of Vandenburg's retrial on charges that include aggravated rape.

The trial may stretch into the weekend. The woman probably will testify Friday for the third time in this case. In prior trials, she has been one of the state's final witnesses.

Jurors have appeared attentive and in good spirits even after the case so far has included graphic images, video and testimony.

They continue to take notes. Twice on Thursday they declined breaks when Criminal Court Judge Monte Watkins offered. The jurors talked and laughed among themselves when lawyers handled matters in chambers, which happened often Thursday.

Coming back from lunch break, Watkins asked, as usual: "How was lunch today?"

"Tasty," the 14 jurors, including two alternates, responded in unison.

Another day this week, their response was: "Free!"

[jbcarol]

Stacey Barchenger ‏@sbarchenger 10m10 minutes ago

Next witness after lunch: Dillon Van der Wal, football player involved in putting woman in Vandenburg's bed after rape. #vandytrial

[Judge] Watkins says jurors are willing to work until 7 pm tonight. [Apparently do not want to miss OJ.] Lawyers to report back after lunch if they're OK with that.

[jbcarol]

Stacey Barchenger ‏@sbarchenger 13m13 minutes ago

Van der Wal: Vandenburg showing Chris Boyd video after incident, when they were in hallway w/ woman partially clothed on floor. #vandytrial

Van der Wal: Vandenburg was "telling multiple stories about what had happened" when they went to Waffle House hours later.

Thurman says state has 5 witnesses left, victim will be last witness. Defense says they don't want to work past 5 p.m.

[Vandenberg's last Friday out on the town as a twenty-something unless the jury decides to send some kind of message.]

[jbcarol]

Stacey Barchenger ‏@sbarchenger 45m45 minutes ago

Victim is on the stand. She came up through back hallways not used by public. #vandytrial

DA Norman has sensitive tone in her voice during questioning, speaking softly.

"Did you consent to Mr Batey, Mr Banks, Mr McKenzie or Mr Vandenburg touching you in any way?" "Absolutely not."

Reagan will do cross-exam. Interested to see his style, want to be cautious not to look bad/aggressive in front of jury.

Reagan is asking her to repeat things she's already testified to. Cut on knee, blood on glove box, she confirms all of it again

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/sbarchenger/status/743967309300178944

Court starts Saturday at 8:45 am. Defense will make (routine) motions for acquittal. I don't know how long defense case will go.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/sbarchenger/status/743882023404707840

Roommate of victim, Lauren Miller, on stand. Jury [saw] pictures they took at Tin Roof bar hours before rape.

Miller says woman showed up next day with bruises that were not there day before and said she felt worse than she'd ever felt.

[jbcarol]

Stacey Barchenger ‏@sbarchenger 3m3 minutes ago

Judge denies motion for acquittal. #vandytrial

[jbcarol]

Stacey Barchenger ‏@sbarchenger 4m4 minutes ago

Defense says they will have no witnesses except maybe victim's friend if they can find her; Vandenburg will NOT testify.

"Yes, your honor," Vandenburg says he understands rights to testify/not testify. Lawyers hand up written waiver.

[jbcarol]

Stacey Barchenger ‏@sbarchenger 19s19 seconds ago

Julianna Martel, the friend the defense wants to re-call, to impeach victim's testimony is on her way. Will be here at 10:15 a.m.

[jbcarol]

Stacey Barchenger ‏@sbarchenger 19s19 seconds ago

Julianna Martel, the friend the defense wants to re-call, to impeach victim's testimony is on her way. Will be here at 10:15 a.m.

Stacey Barchenger ‏@sbarchenger 12m12 minutes ago

.@hurlgirl The statement at issue is apparently where the blue drink came from. Vandenburg, or a booster lady. #vandytrial

[jbcarol]

Stacey Barchenger ‏@sbarchenger 1h1 hour ago

Defense rests case, closing arguments to begin in just minutes in Vandenburg retrial. #vandytrial

.@MNPDNashville detectives Gish, Mayo, Shreeve - worked this case - here in front row. Public takes up five rows in courtroom.

Norman repeatedly says jury needs to find only that Vandenburg was aware of what was going on; alcohol doesn't matter.

Norman: "He was aware that something was wrong with her and she was losing awareness of her surroundings."

Victim is in court. State is intentionally using her name during closing argument, though called her victim throughout case.

Jury is watching dorm surveillance video. Norman: "At this moment here, he thinks that (the woman's) lifeless body is funny."

Juror in front row is nodding as Norman says victim was incapacitated and helpless.

Jury watches video in dorm where Vandenburg says "squeeze that ----." Court officer gets victim tissues.

"He is the one that got (victim) there for these strangers to do this to her. He provided the victim. And he provided the room."

Norman: Vandenburg was aware enough to send video to friend Joseph Quinzio, previously told him he would call during sex

Norman ends closing argument. Ten minute break, then defense closing.

Reagan objects to trio of detectives sitting in front row, just feet away from jury. Says presence is prejudicial. Watkins lets them stay.

Perez, lawyer from California and family friend of the Vandenburgs, will do defense closing. Starts now.

Perez: "You decide whether I'm right, or they're right. And that's your decision."

In charges: "What you don't see in that is Brandon Vandenburg's name," Perez says. State "trying to say he is criminally responsible."

Perez says jurors first need to find that other football players committed sexual acts, then consider criminal responsibility.

Perez suggests to jury the graphic pictures do not show an act actually happening. They "appear" to show things.

[jbcarol]

 Stacey Barchenger ‏@sbarchenger 2m2 minutes ago

Judge sends jury out to deliberate in retrial of Brandon Vandenburg. #vandytrial #vandyretrial

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/sbarchenger/status/744343200370950144

jury found Brandon Vandenburg guilty as-charged late Saturday in the rape of an unconscious woman he was dating in his Vanderbilt University dorm room nearly three years ago.

The jury deliberated more than four hours before delivering the verdicts about 8:20 p.m. Jurors found Vandenburg guilty on all counts: Five counts of aggravated rape, two counts of aggravated sexual battery and unlawful photography.

The victim nodded in the courtroom as the verdicts were read.

Vandenburg faces 15 to 25 years in prison for the crimes. He was taken into custody immediately after the verdicts were read, as required by Tennessee law. His mother sobbed in the front row, where she has watched the trial all week.

Jurors got the case about 3:50 p.m. after hearing five days of testimony. Vandenburg, 23, was charged alongside three other men in the case, which launched debate of how colleges respond to sexual assault. One of those men, Cory Batey, was found guilty after trial in April. Two others, Jaborian "Tip" McKenzie and Brandon E. Banks, have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.

Assistant District Attorney General Jan Norman, in a closing argument Saturday morning, asked jurors to hold Vandenburg responsible for the actions of the other men. She said he was aware of what happened and intended to participate.

"He is the one that got (the woman) there for these strangers to do this to her," Norman said. "He provided the victim. And he provided the room."

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/sbarchenger/status/744343352284487681

[jbcarol]

Stacey Barchenger ‏@sbarchenger 15m15 minutes ago

Defense team: Vandenburg has a right to an appeal and we'll be preparing for that. #vandytrial


Hope they take his dad for every penny he has.

[jbcarol]

Natalie Neysa Alund Verified account
‏@nataliealund

Sentencing for the guilty charges to be set at a later date, judge says. Vandenburg crying, hugging his attorneys & led out of courtroom

[jbcarol]

Natalie Neysa Alund ‏@nataliealund 27m27 minutes ago Nashville, TN

Prosecutor Jan Norman speaking of the victim having to keep coming back for trials and hearings: "She is one of the strongest people I know"