Ex-Vanderbilt Football Player Says He's Sorry About Assault
"I was drunk out of my mind," Cory Batey said in interview with "Dr. Phil."
— -- A former Vanderbilt University football player convicted of raping a fellow student with a teammate said he is sorry for his actions in a tearful interview with “Dr. Phil” McGraw.
Cory Batey was convicted along with Brandon Vandenburg Jan. 27 of aggravated rape and aggravated sexual battery in a dorm room attack, which prosecutors said Vandenburg recorded on a cellphone. Batey and Vandenberg could face decades in prison when they’re sentenced in March.
“I was drunk out of my mind,” Batey said in a clip from the exclusive interview from the Nashville Criminal Justice Center, which airs Monday. “I just couldn’t believe it was me.”
One of the toughest exchanges in the interview involves Batey’s testimony about the moment he says he realized something horrible happened the night of June 23, 2013. In court, Batey referred to the victim as “the young lady in the pictures” and attempted to apologize, but he used different language to describe her in a text message after the assault.
“Who did you make the statement, ‘They say I raped some b****?’ Who did you make that statement to?” McGraw asked.
“I don’t recall who that was,” Batey responded.
“It’s an interesting choice of words, ‘Some b****.’ Because you’re saying, ‘That’s not me. I – I watch myself on tape, that’s not me. That’s out of character,’” McGraw said.
“Yes, sir,” Batey said.
During the trial, Batey testified he was too drunk to remember the incident, claiming he blacked out after consuming between 14 and 22 drinks that night. He told the court he didn't realize what he had done until the next morning, after finding graphic photos on his phone as he was on his way to church.
Authorities say Batey and co-defendant Vandenburg, along with two other men, carried the victim – who is not being identified by ABC News – to a dorm room, where the unconscious student was assaulted. Two other ex-players accused of being involved in the incident, Brandon Banks and Jaborian McKenzie, also face charges of rape and sexual battery, but have not yet gone to trial. Banks and McKenzie have pleaded not guilty.
