Ex-Vanderbilt player Brandon Vandenburg found guilty in second rape trial
Former Vanderbilt football player Brandon Vandenburg was found guilty of all eight charges against him in a second trial in the rape of a woman in his campus dorm room three years ago.
A jury of seven women and five men returned the verdicts Saturday night after four and half hours of deliberation. He faces a minimum of 15 years in prison.
He was found guilty on five counts of aggravated rape, two counts of aggravated sexual battery and one count of unlawful photography. Security footage from the dorm had shown Vandenburg and his teammates carrying the unconscious woman, then a 21-year-old neuroscience major who was dating Vandenburg, into his dorm room. From there, according to the testimony in the trial, he directed his teammates to attack her, provided them with condoms and recorded parts of it.
Police say he also conspired to destroy evidence and cover up the attack afterward.
Three of his former teammates were also charged in the attack. One of them, Corey Batey, was found guilty in April. The other two, Jaborian McKenzie and Brandon E. Banks, have yet to face trial.
Batey and Vandenburg previously stood trial together and were found guilty on multiple counts, but the decision was overturned after revelations came to light about one of the jurors.
Vandenburg's lawyer has said he will appeal.
The Tennessean has more on the trial itself and the background of the woman's legal ordeal.