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Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2018 6:08 am
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A woman who was gang-raped by football players while unconscious in a dorm room at Vanderbilt University has now testified for a fourth time in court. Cory Batey was sentenced to 15 years in prison Friday after a searing 11-minute statement by the victim, who was a neuroscience and economics major when she was attacked. These are her words, as transcribed by The Associated Press.Thank you.Its hard for me to stand here on display and speak to you today about the impact this has had on my life. The thought of sharing any more of myself that hasnt already been taken from me seems unbearable, and it goes against every instinct that I have.I was fearful of giving a victim impact statement at all because I know that after three years and everything that has happened, I can never do it justice, and Im scared of that failure. It will never be possible for anyone to put into words how this has affected me. And you will never understand what this has done to me if you arent standing in my shoes. The humiliation, the pain, the isolation, being reduced to nothing but a piece of flesh right before your eyes -- it does something to you that is truly impossible to describe.I also know that its hard to encapsulate the impact this has had because it is still ongoing. The attack on me didnt end that day, because I re-live it in every proceeding, and experience additional attacks every time I am in court.When I let myself think of this, I become so angry and feel so powerless, even today, that speaking coherently about it at all is a challenge. But after what was done to me that night and three years of abuse at the hands of the defendant, I felt I had to come here and ask the court to consider the impact of his choices and his actions.On June 22 of 2013, I was a happy, hard-working Vanderbilt student looking forward to my future. I was 21 years old. Ive seen with my own eyes what I was when Mr. Batey was done with me -- a piece of trash, face down in a hallway covered in his urine and palm prints. A photograph he took himself.There are no words to describe the horror of the images from that night and how it feels to watch yourself be dehumanized.A detective showed me some of those photos and videos that you and 42 jurors have now seen, so many times. And what I saw was image after image of my genitalia, covering the entire frame on the screen. These stark, alien-looking fingers all over the flesh were moving from frame to frame, with multiple hands reaching in. Videos played, and I heard the laughing. I heard the degrading, taunting voices.My memory of the images I was shown then starts to flash in and out. The realization of all the ways that they raped me, that people can see these close-up images of my body, the unknown of what was done to me in those 30 minutes that wasnt recorded -- it was incomprehensible. I wanted to run away and never stop running.At one point I saw what I first thought was a dead womans face. I was suddenly overwhelmed by my memory of a family members corpse, and then I realized that its me. They had taken a picture of my face during the rape. I was lifeless and my face was covered in something shiny. I didnt recognize myself.Something permanent snapped that day. I felt myself detach from my body. Now, I feel like Im walking around in the shell of someone else. A part of me went numb, a sense of being a whole person with hopes and dreams about whats possible in the world was now gone.I felt my belief that people are inherently good turn into some cruel joke, in an instant. I even blamed myself for believing that people werent capable of something like this, and that the world is a better place than it is, when the truth was that I did nothing wrong.No one should ever have to experience what I have. Mr. Batey is to blame for his actions and his choices.I was 21 years old when this happened. Im 24 today. Since the horror of that night, all I have wanted is for this to be behind me, to be left alone and to try and live my life in peace. But the process to get justice has been a never-ending, constant misery that has twisted itself so into my life that I cant even remember what it was like in a time when this wasnt happening.Everything the defendant has done in this case and the media circus surrounding it have been a continuous disruption, repeatedly dragging me back every single step I try to take forward. I can only feel that the defendant has intentionally wanted this to be as tortuous for me as possible.Part of the impact this has had and will continue to have on my life is the media scrutiny, invited by Mr. Bateys own high-profile status and amplified by his own television interviews. What happened to me that night has been compounded by the live-streaming, tweeting, and international dissemination of every detail of how I was degraded and humiliated for all posterity. In this age of technology, anyone I ever meet in my personal or professional life can learn that I am a rape victim and the details of the case before Ive even fully introduced myself to them. There is no way for me to even know if any given person I interact with has done so. This is something I now have to expect for the rest of my life.It is also hard for me to push aside all of the attempts by the defendant to misrepresent himself and disparage my character, because I could stand here for hours talking about the impact of all the lies Ive had to sit in this courtroom and listen to. I remember each and every one of them, and every time it hurt me. It made me angry because I didnt have a voice and I couldnt say anything. I shouldnt even have to defend myself, and even if I could, everything I share about myself here is repeated by the national media. It got so bad that for the last two trials, I couldnt even bear to sit in here and listen to it.Part of me does want to stand here for hours and hours and go through every single thing Mr. Batey has done throughout this case. But the truth is that the focus never should have been on me. I was unconscious. I was driven and carried to the crime scene. The defendant was a complete stranger.Again, the attack on me didnt end that day, because I re-live it in every proceeding and am constantly experiencing additional attacks. The fact that I even had to breathe the same air as the men who did this to me, ever again, to me is unthinkable. But I have endured all of this because the details of the rape are so horrific, and there is so much irrefutable evidence -- I knew that they had to be stopped and held accountable.This is a serious, violent crime and it must receive the enhanced punishment it deserves. Any victim should know that they would have justice if they went through the process.I am asking that Mr. Batey receive the maximum sentence of 25 years under the law, to set the amount of time that he will not be able to do this to another victim, to deter others like him, and based on the particularly egregious nature of the rape itself.He did not commit just one act of violence against me. There were five acts of sexual assault and rape committed by him and him alone, and there were seven acts of violence he was found guilty of committing against me. But sexual assault was not where the attack ended. Mr. Batey continued to abuse and degrade me, urinating on my face while uttering horrific racial hate speech that suggested I deserved what he was doing to me because of the color of my skin. He didnt even know who I was.I also ask for the maximum sentence of 25 years as is appropriate for the impact this has had and will continue to have on me every day for the rest of my life. Wholesale Basketball Jerseys . The next step is a better finish. Bae played bogey-free Friday on another gorgeous day at Riviera for a 5-under 66, giving him a one-shot lead over Aaron Baddeley and Robert Garrigus going into the weekend. Cheap Nike NBA Jerseys . Durant finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds, Jackson matched his career high with 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting and Lamb scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, lifting the Thunder to a 94-88 win over San Antonio and snapping the Spurs 11-game winning streak. http://www.cheapbasketballjerseysoutlet.com/ . Note: The Calgary Flames announced Tuesday that Sean Monahan would not be made available to Canadas World Junior team. NBA Jerseys Outlet . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April. Cheap Basketball Jerseys China . Wilson hit Schenn from behind during Tuesday nights game in Philadelphia, earning a five-minute major for charging and a game misconduct. He has a phone hearing with the department of player safety, which limits any potential suspension to five or fewer games. NEW YORK -- Doesnt matter to Caroline Wozniacki that shes ranked 74th. Or that she didnt win a Grand Slam match all year until she got to the U.S. Open. She was sure she was capable of another deep run at a major -- and she was right.Wozniacki reached her fifth U.S. Open semifinal -- and her first semifinal at any Grand Slam tournament in two years -- by beating an injured Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia 6-0, 6-2 on Tuesday night.I always believe in myself, no matter what my ranking, said Wozniacki, who used to be No. 1. Ive beaten pretty much everyone in the draw before.The 48th-ranked Sevastova twisted her right ankle on the opening point of the second game and clearly was hampered by that. During the changeover after the third game, a trainer examined and taped up the ankle during a medical timeout.Ive rolled my ankle several times, and even this year, I was out for three months with a sprained ankle. So I feel real sorry for her, Wozniacki said of Sevastova in an on-court interview in Arthur Ashe Stadium. It happened early in the match, and then I kept kind of just pushing her back and tried to make her move.Wozniacki, twice the runner-up at Flushing Meadows, will meet No. 2 Angelique Kerber in Thursdays semifinals.Kerber, making a push to move up from No. 2 in the rankings, and to earn a second Grand Slam title of 2016, rallied to win the last nine games in a 7-5, 6-0 victory over Roberta Vinci, last years runner-up here.I know that I can beat everybody, Kerber said, and this is what gives me also a lot of confidence and motivation.Its been quite a resurgence for Wozniacki, who lost in the first round of the Australian Open, missed the French Open with that bum ankle and was beaten during the first round of Wimbledon.But after dropping the opening set of her first-round match against Taylor Townsend at the U.S. Open, Wozniacki has won 10 sets in a row. She eliminated 2004 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round and No. 8 Madison Keys in the fourth.Wozniackis last trip to the semifinals of a major came in 2014, when she lost the U.S. Open final to her good friend?Serena Williams. Wozniacki also was a finalist in New York in 2009, losing to Kim Clijsters. Wozniacki exited in the semifinals in 2010 and 2011.This was a tough way for Sevastovas U.S. Open to end. She hadnt ceded a set until Tuesday, beating No. 3 Garbine Muguruza, the French Open champion, and No. 13 Johanna Konta on the way to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal.Before this tournament, Sevastovas best Grand Slam run was reaching the fourth round at the 2011 Australian Open, where she lost to -- it just so happens -- Wozniacki in their only previous meeting.After a series of injuries, including to her back, Sevastova found tennis depressing, and she left the sport in 2013. After more than a year away, during which she studied accounting and marketing in Austria, Sevastova decided to give the sport another go.Against Wozniacki, she never really had a chance to play her best. After all of 24 minutes, it was 5-0, and half of Wozniackis 22 points came vvia unforced errors by Sevastova.dddddddddddd.That trend would continue, and Sevastova was visited repeatedly by the trainer. As they spoke during one changeover, Sevastova appeared on the verge of tears as she pointed to her troublesome foot.Kerber has a chance to overtake Serena Williams at No. 1 after the tournament. Kerber moved into her third major semifinal of the year.Kerber beat Williams in the Australian Open final in January, then she lost to Williams in the Wimbledon final in July.In tough moments, Vinci said about Kerber, the mind is important.In 2015, Vinci reached her first major final by stunning Williams to end the Americans bid for the first calendar-year Grand Slam in tennis in more than a quarter century.But after being two points from taking the first set against Kerber while serving for it at 5-4, 30-all, the No. 7-seeded Vinci faltered badly. She missed a forehand long, then netted a backhand to get broken there -- and that was just the beginning of her collapse.Trailing 6-5 and serving at love-40, Vinci missed her first serve, then was called for a foot fault on a second serve. That resulted in a double fault, ceding the set.As she walked to the sideline, Vinci looked at the line judge who made the call and smiled sarcastically, giving him a thumbs-up and applauding with her racket.If they called it, Vinci said later, I must have done it.Its a rare ruling in Grand Slam tennis, especially at a critical juncture -- although there was, of course, the most famous foot fault of all on the very same court:In the 2009 US Open semifinals, Williams was angered by the same type of call: a foot fault that resulted in a double fault; in that instance, it set up match point for her opponent, Kim Clijsters. Williams brandished her racket and yelled at the line judge, and the point she was docked for that ended the match.This time, the call ended the competitive portion of Vincis quarterfinal: She managed to take only 10 of 38 points the rest of the way.Vinci has been dealing with an injured left Achilles tendon -- she wore black tape in the shape of a V that framed her left calf -- and a bad back. Still, her varied game, filled with slices and drop shots and net rushes, gave Kerber fits for most of the first set.I was playing better than her, said the 33-year-old Vinci, who mentioned at her news conference that she will decide after the season whether to retire.I really dont want to be someone who says, Im retiring, then, after two weeks, No, Im not retiring. Im retiring. Im not. I dont know. Its something Ill need to figure out at the end of the year, Vinci said in Italian, with a laugh. Lets see what Im feeling and if I have a desire to continue. Putting aside my injuries, Im playing good tennis.But Kerber hung in there to reach her first US Open semifinal since 2011.Im staying more positive and believing in my game, Kerber said. I think that right now, I can win matches like that. cheap falcons jerseys cheap ravens jerseys cheap bills jerseys cheap bears jerseys cheap bengals jerseys cheap cowboys jerseys cheap lions jerseys cheap texans jerseys cheap colts jerseys cheap jaguars jerseys cheap chiefs jerseys cheap rams jerseys cheap dolphins jerseys cheap vikings jerseys cheap saints jerseys cheap giants jerseys cheap jets jerseys cheap eagles jerseys cheap steelers jerseys cheap 49ers jerseys ' ' '