Prosecutors: Vanderbilt rape suspect not too drunk to spell quesadilla

What does the correct spelling of quesadilla have to do with the trial of a former football player accused of raping a woman in a Vanderbilt University campus dorm?

Depending on whom you ask, a lot.

After the alleged rape on June 23, 2013, suspect Cory Batey sent a text message asking for the Mexican meal, prosecutors said.

Deputy District Attorney Tom Thurman confessed to Judge Monte Watkins he wasn't sure he could even spell the word. In questioning, Thurman suggested that if Batey could nail the spelling, he could not have been so drunk that he did not know what was happening the night of the alleged rape.

The issue went before Judge Watkins during the last-scheduled hearing before Batey and another former teammate, Brandon Vandenburg, stand trial Monday. Watkins ruled on several motions and said he would look into what prosecutors called a "last minute Hail Mary" delay attempt.

Batey's defense attorney is gearing up to argue that Batey was too drunk to form the intent to commit some of the alleged crimes. Defense attorney Worrick Robinson said Dr. James Walker, a forensic neuropsychologist, was a necessary part of that defense.

Watkins asked to preview Walker's testimony Friday after prosecutors objected and said evidence law prevented the testimony at trial.

Prosecutors used quesadilla spelling as one example to try and show Batey was not as drunk as the defense might claim.

Robinson said the quesadilla argument was invalid because a drunken spelling could have been fixed by autocorrect.

"It has nothing to do with whether he could get into his dorm room, or whether he could spell the word quesadilla," he said. "It has everything to do with whether Mr. Batey formed the intent for the specific act for which he is at trial."

He mentioned another doctor's report, likely to come up later in the case, that estimated Batey's blood alcohol content the night of the alleged rape was between 0.17 and 0.33 percent.

"Mr. Batey's intentions were not what they would have been had he not been intoxicated," Walker said.

After more than an hour previewing Walker's testimony and taking argument from attorneys, the judge said he would allow Walker to testify before the jury. Jurors will be allowed to consider Walker's testimony only for three of the alleged counts, those in which intent is a factor.

Batey and Vandenburg are accused of seven counts of aggravated rape and aggravated sexual battery. Their trial is expected to last two weeks.

Also Friday:

Prosecutors announced they have not made any plea agreements with two other football players accused in the case. Cases against Brandon Banks and Jaborian Mckenzie have been on hold as this trial moves forward, and they are expected to testify. Prosecutors said agreements offering probation have been made with two other men in California who may have seen evidence of the alleged rape.

Watkins said he would review a defense request to dismiss one count against Vandenburg after evidence is offered at trial. Albert Perez Jr., Vandenburg's attorney, said the count of tampering with evidence should be dismissed because it was changed after evidence went before the grand jury. In the scope of charges against Vandenburg, it is one of the least serious in terms of potential penalties.

Reach Stacey Barchenger at 615-726-8968 or on Twitter @sbarchenger.