Updates to our Terms of Use

We are updating our Terms of Use. Please carefully review the updated Terms before proceeding to our website.

Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Vandy Player Described as Rape Ringleader

NASHVILLE (CN) - A former Vanderbilt University football player accused of a dorm room rape, testified against two of his teammates on Tuesday, claiming one of them "coached" the other participants in the alleged crime.

The trial for Brandon Vandenburg, and Corey Batey - two of four former players charged in an alleged June 23, 2013 on-campus rape - began last week.

Two other former Vanderbilt students - Jaborian "Tip" McKenzie and Brandon Banks - have also been charged in the case, but their trials have not been scheduled.

The four men allegedly participated in the rape of an unconscious female student in Vandenburg's Gillette House dorm, early that June morning. All four were kicked off the Vanderbilt Commodores football team.

McKenzie testified for the prosecution on Tuesday. He told Deputy District Attorney Tom Thurman that he didn't want to be there.

"We were like brothers. We were best friends. Wherever you'd see one of us you'd see all of us," McKenzie said in reference to Batey and Banks. "I'm not happy about it, sir. I don't want to be here."

McKenzie said he, Batey and Banks drank "strawberritas" and vodka in McKenzie and Banks' dorm room on the night before the alleged assault, and while had never met Vandenburg, he knew the 21-year-old was a teammate..

He described Vandenburg as "amped" when the alleged victim was passed out on his dorm room floor, instructing the three others to put on a condom.

"He was hyper, like he was coaching us," McKenzie said, describing Vandenburg as drunk but still able to know what he was doing.

McKenzie told jurors that Batey and Vandenburg both had difficulty getting an erection. He said Vandenburg looked at Internet porn overcome this difficult, and he then went on to described how the alleged victim was penetrated with a water bottle.

Throughout his testimony, McKenzie insisted he never touched the alleged victim himself, but that nevertheless, he and Banks "were freaking out" over what had happened.

" [Vandenburg] was just assuring [us] that everything will be okay," McKenzie said. He told prosecutors that Vandenburg flushed the condoms in the dormitory restroom.

Defense attorney Worrick Robinson cross-examined McKenzie, asking if the state paid for his travel expenses for the trial. McKenzie said they did not, but allowed he does hope for consideration in exchange for his testimony.

Since the trial started, jurors have repeatedly been shown graphic cell phone images of the alleged incident. These photos and videos were not shown to members of the public but audio could be heard. While McKenzie was listening to one video clip Tuesday morning, audible laughing and reference to the water bottle used in the alleged rape could be heard.

Categories / Uncategorized

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Loading...