Vanderbilt rape case: Batey, Vandenburg released

Stacey Barchenger | USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee

Show Caption Hide Caption Vanderbilt rape defendants released Former Vanderbilt football players Brandon Vandenburg and Cory Batey were released from Davidson County Criminal Justice Center.

Brandon Vandenburg and Cory Batey were released from jail about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, fewer than 24 hours after they learned they'd get a new trial in what has become known as the Vanderbilt rape case.

The two men changed their orange jail uniforms -- which they have worn in jail since being convicted in January -- for suits and collared shirts immediately before leaving Davidson County Criminal Justice Center.

They briefly met inside the cement-block lobby with their attorneys, and Vandenburg smiled as he hugged his attorney. They declined to comment and carried bags of their belongings.

The men will be fitted with GPS monitors at Nashville's downtown criminal courthouse.

Earlier Wednesday, a judge reinstated the bonds for the two former Vanderbilt University football players.

Criminal Court Judge Monte Watkins increased bond for Vandenburg, 22, to $400,000 — $50,000 more than the original amount set before trial. He reinstated an original $350,000 bond for Batey, 21. Both men were found guilty of aggravated rape and other charges after a 12-day trial in January.

Watkins ordered both Batey and Vandenburg to wear GPS monitors pending a new trial. No date has been set.

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In a hearing Wednesday morning, a day after Watkins granted a mistrial in the case, Assistant District Attorney Roger Moore argued that the bonds for men should be "increased substantially" because the men now know the consequences of the case. They were taken into custody immediately after the verdicts were read in January.

He also noted that Vandenburg, who is from California, was charged in a misdemeanor case involving an alleged assault on a security officer at his younger brother's school while out on bond before trial.

Defense attorneys Worrick Robinson, for Batey, and Troy Bowlin, for Vandenburg, said their clients attended each hearing before trial and were not any more of a flight risk now than before. Robinson noted that Batey's family lives in Nashville, and that his past bond was posted with money from the sale of his grandmother's home.

Bowlin said his understanding was that Vandenburg's charge in California would be dismissed.

Vandenburg and Batey's bonds were set at $350,000 in 2013 while the charges were pending, and both men were released from custody after posting bond. Their bonds were revoked after the trial verdicts were read, per statute, and they have been in jail since January.

But shortly after the trial, defense attorneys found out that the jury foreman, Todd Easter, had been the victim in a statutory rape case in Sumner County in 2000.

The attorneys asked Criminal Court Judge Monte Watkins to declare a mistrial, and Watkins granted the request on Tuesday. The judge found that the juror's credibility was questionable and that he was biased. Watkins' order says "granting a new trial is necessary and appropriate in order to promote a fair determination of the defendants' guilt or innocence."

The Tennessean does not typically name victims of sexual assault. However, Easter's attorney, Sunny Eaton, agreed Tuesday that Easter could be identified in this case.



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