Vanderbilt Rape Trial Entering a Critical Second Week of Testimonies and Graphic Images
ByJurors in the rape trial for two former Vanderbilt football players have already seen surveillance footage and heard testimony will now hear from someone who was initially charged as well.
According to ABC News, Jaborian McKenzie, a former player who was charged with aggravated rape and aggravated sexual battery alongside Brandon Vandenburg, Corey Batey and Brandon Banks, will testify this week. Vandenburg and Batey are on trial while McKenzie and Banks are both expected to testify.
All four were initially charged and have pled not guilty. Vandenburg was also charged with unlawful photography and destroying evidence for recording the alleged incident and later deleting the video.
The victim was Vandenburg's girlfriend at the time of the attack and he and his three teammates allegedly raped her after a night of heavy drinking. The jurors were reportedly shown images from the night in question too graphic to show the courtroom, but only saw surveillance footage from Gillette Hall's cameras.
Another former teammate, Chris Boyd, will also testify in the trial. Boyd was charged with aiding in the cover-up the day after, but accepted a plea deal in exchange for probation and his testimony.
The Tennessean called the second week of the trial will be the "crux of the state's case." Though Vandenburg is accused of tampering with evidence, there is reportedly graphic videos of the incident in existence on his and other individuals' cell phones.
Alcohol consumption and sexual promiscuity is central to both the prosecution and the defense. The former is arguing that one night of hard partying will leave everlasting emotional scars for one young woman while the latter says none of those involved were their usual selves, because of the culture they were used to.
"The first part of the case was like building a house," Rob McKinney, a Nashville criminal defense attorney analyzing the case for the Tennessean, told the newspaper. "The state laid the foundation by setting the scene."