NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nashville prosecutors are asking the judge who sentenced a former Vanderbilt football player to 15 years in prison for his part in a gang rape to order a new sentencing hearing with a different judge.
The prosecutors are quoted by The Tennessean (http://tnne.ws/2cqdi54) as saying in a motion that Criminal Court Judge Monte Watkins received 11 emails or letters before sentencing Cory Batey. Prosecutors say they were not shown the messages or given the opportunity to contest them, and the judge wrongly relied on them in sentencing Batey.
His 15-year sentence was the minimum possible for his convictions of aggravated rape and aggravated sexual battery of an unconscious fellow student in 2013.
A hearing on the prosecutors’ motion is scheduled for Thursday. Batey’s attorney did not immediately return a call.
