Former Vanderbilt football player Brandon Vandenburg should never have been found guilty of five counts of aggravated rape, two counts of aggravated sexual battery and one count of unlawful photography on Saturday night in Nashville.
That’s because he should have already been serving time for that verdict after first being found guilty in January 2015.
But when it was later discovered that the foreman from that 2015 jury had been a victim of statutory rape 15 years earlier, a mistrial was declared, which forced Vandenburg and Cory Batey, another former Commodore, to be retried on the same charges in separate trials, which meant the victim had to relive her nightmare not once, not twice, but three times.
Mark WiedmerThree times to relive being carried into Vandenburg’s dorm room after she’d passed out from drinking. Three times to relive the awful, criminal things that were done to her in that room by Batey and two other players while Vandenburg – who was supposedly dating the woman – cheered them on, filmed it, then sent the video to friends. Three times to relive the fact that Vandenburg lied to her about all of it even as he was bragging about destroying evidence.
Not once, not twice, but three times.
“It’s impossible to not be emotional about this case,” Jan Norman, assistant district attorney general, said after the verdict. “The facts are horrific and what happened to this victim is horrifying no matter how many times you say it, no matter how many times you see it.”
But at least a third jury got it right, just as the second jury did in re-convicting Batey in April.
Hearings for the two other former players involved in the incident – Brandon E. Banks and Jaborian McKenzie – have yet to be set. All in all, however, unless you were the victim who had to endure three times the agony she should have, justice is so far being served.
But will it ignite changed behavior on college campuses? That question is especially worth asking of male athletes, whose sense of entitlement and mindset that might makes right appears to be getting worse rather than better.
Moreover, when these charges of rape and sexual assault come, will they be dealt with evenly, regardless of the financial clout or athletic skill of the accused?
I bring up this last point to showcase the differences in the sentences of Batey and former Stanford swimmer Brock Turner, who was charged with sexual assault against a fellow Stanford student, who had also passed out after drinking too much.
While Batey’s expected sentence is a minimum of 15 years by Tennessee law, Turner was given six months, which is permissible by California law if the judge so chooses. But before anyone plays the race card here – Batey is black and Turner white – the differences have more to do with state law than race. And while neither Batey nor Vandenburg, who’s white, have been sentenced, their sentences should be almost the same, with Vandenburg even possibly drawing a longer sentence.
That all of this is taking place as we’ve just wrapped up ESPN’s lengthy yet laudable “OJ: Made in America” documentary only adds to the discussion. No one, even though he was black, used wealth and privilege and fame to greater advantage than Simpson, who most believe got away with the murder of his wife Nicole and her friend Ronald Goldman mostly because of who he was and the money he could spend to hire his legal dream team.
Most folks, young athletes or not, don’t have Simpson’s resources, however.
“I hope young people do pay attention to this and see what choices they make with alcohol,” said Tom Thurman, deputy district attorney general, after Saturday’s verdict. “Their actions can severely impact their lives and in certain cases destroy their lives.”
The evidence is everywhere. At Vanderbilt. At Baylor University. Even at Stanford, because regardless of his sentence, Turner’s reputation is damaged for life.
But when it keeps happening, when it seems to be getting worse instead of better, you wonder if anyone is listening. So here’s an idea. Reduce Batey and Vanderburg’s sentences by 15 percent if they’ll go on the road in orange jumpsuits and handcuffs to talk to college students the nation over.
Let the individual schools pay for the cost. Have Batey and Vandenburg discuss what happened to them, as well as force the students to watch at least a bit of what they did. Also make them remain in prison for at least three years before they’re allowed to speak in order that they might intelligently discuss the horror of lengthy incarceration.
Then encourage their victim to do the same and speak about her experience. She’s a remarkable woman. Now a Vanderbilt grad with three birthdays behind her since the rape, she has begun a doctorate program, taking a qualifying exam in her neuroscience program a day before testifying for a third time this past Friday.
While any woman should have the right to say no to sex at any time and have that request respected, drinking until you pass out is never a smart move. She would surely say that today, and perhaps because of all that happened to her after passing out, that bit of caution and common sense might stop another young woman from making the same mistake.
Yet the real mistakes were made by two former Vanderbilt football players about to spend a very long time in jail.
In an interview not long after the crime, Vandenburg told the police: “She got sexually assaulted right in front of me. And I didn’t do anything. I should’ve called someone.”
Thankfully, for the second time in 18 months, a jury called him what he is: a rapist. But should his lawyers succeed in their threat for an appeal, here’s hoping the victim won’t have to relive that rape again.
She’s been in an emotional prison far too long already.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.