be sure to catch us again next week for another edition of "what would you do?" don't forget, you can connect with us anytime. like us on facebook and follow us on twitter. and don't go away. "20/20" starts right now. >> reporter: a hot summer night in nashville, just like tonight. college kids, out for a night on the town. nashville -- vanderbilt university. but that was before. this was after. gillette hall. a car pulling in to campus. a seemingly drunk co-ed being pulled out, then dragged from an elevator and carried down the hall to room 213. >> it looked like they were carrying a dead body down the hall. >> reporter: football players, oblivious to dorm surveillance cameras. and then, more pictures and video, snapped on cell phones inside the room.

>> they did this to her. they did that to her. >> we just recovered the worst nightmare for this victim. >> what did you think you had? >> sexual assault. >> reporter: that young woman, who can't remember, but is forced to imagine -- >> i can't tell, is that me? >> that is you. >> reporter: forced to go through an explosive trial that riveted the country -- >> two former vanderbilt football players pleading not guilty. >> reporter: 12 days, 25 witnesses, a slam-dunk verdict after just three hours. >> we find mr. vandenburg guilty. >> reporter: but just this week, a bombshell -- a mistrial declared by a judge because of this juror. juror number nine with a secret past he should have disclosed. what was he hiding? >> todd easter's deceit and manipulation. >> reporter: the old verdict thrown out. >> we are back to square one,

basically. >> reporter: and just days ago, these two jailed defendants, now walking out of jail. >> corey, how do you feel? >> reporter: free for now, in a stunning reversal of fortune. >> the fact that this woman has to through another trial. >> reporter: was it indifference by some? >> you didn't report it to the head coach! >> i did not. >> reporter: indecency by others? >> seems like it couldn't be more brazen a cover-up. >> reporter: whatever you call it, it's going to change young lives forever for the second time around. tonight, the shock waves are still rippling out in nashville. the fate of two college football players has changed, from guilty to mistrial. all because of a mystery hinging on one juror, with a secret he

never told the court. >> when it was announced this week, it was two years to the day since the alleged assault took place. and now, a college co-ed will have to relive it all. ryan smith takes us back to that june night. >> reporter: while nashville is often called the capitol of country music, it's earned one other moniker -- the athens of the south because the city is home to at least 38 colleges and universities. and just a stone's throw from those honky-tonk bars and juke joints lies vanderbilt university, consistently ranked as one of the nation's top 20 schools. tony gonzalez is a reporter for "the tennessean," nashville's paper of record. when this story came across your desk, what was your reaction? >> well, i don't think we've seen a case quite like this here in nashville, just with the level of the institution, the serious nature of these charges -- from the beginning, you knew that lives were probably going to be changed. >> reporter: it begins on a

balmy night in june. brandon vandenburg, the nation's number one junior college tight end, is drinking with the alleged victim at a popular bar -- the tin roof. she's 21, he's 20 and the prize athlete of vanderbilt's recruiting class. >> he'd actually only been on campus a couple of weeks. >> reporter: brandon vandenberg was a star? >> yes, brandon had it all. >> he probably would have started the very first game day one on vanderbilt's football team. >> reporter: when did they first meet? >> on his recruiting visit, which i don't think they had known each other more than a couple of weeks when the event occurred. >> reporter: the female, who works for the athletic department and is a member of the vanderbilt dance-spirit team, meets the 6'6" all-american from palm desert, california, on a recruiting trip to vanderbilt and shows him around campus. and now that he's there, brandon and the young neuroscience student are having nights like this one. both had been drinking earlier

with friends before meeting up. at the bar, the alcohol is flowing. the woman recalls a cinnamon whisky shot, a gin and tonic, and a california long island ice tea. >> people have been drinking on college campuses for decades. these are young adults. >> reporter: they leave the bar together in the early morning hours and share a cab to her place. but her house key doesn't work. so the football star comes up with a "plan b." >> brandon and she go to gillette hall in her car. brandon is driving. and an evening of casual fun moves to a new venue -- his dorm, gillette hall. by the next morning, a serious hangover is the only evidence of a night of excess. >> she woke up. she didn't know what happened. >> reporter: and that's where the story might have ended, were it not for this broken door, discovered completely by accident. it is an unrelated act of vandalism that occurred over the weekend. but by dumb luck, a maintenance worker notices it and alerts

campus police on monday. the cops go to the surveillance video looking for a culprit. what they find instead is a vanderbilt video like no other. >> they were reviewing hours and hours when they found, obviously, this alarming footage. >> whoever broke that door broke this case open. >> reporter: in this exclusive security surveillance video, obtained only by "20/20," we see brandon and his apparently inebriated date pulling up to the dorm. >> when the car pulled up outside of the dorm, and the young woman was unconscious, essentially, brandon vandenburg asked for help to move her into the dorm. >> reporter: june 23rd, 2:32 a.m. while a police cruiser sits off in the near distance, the 20-year-old football player carries the young woman out of her black mercedes benz and into gilette dorm. brandon and his three commodore compatriots, laughing and smiling. abc news is blurring the images to protect the identity of the alleged victim. >> those were all members of the football team at that time. they all knew each other, at least a little bit.

>> reporter: what's your interpretation of what he is doing at that point? >> there is no indication that there was any nefarious intent to get her to the room. there are students all over gillette circle. they are seeing them walk into the front lobby of gillette. nobody says "boo." >> reporter: for you it's not uncommon that these four young men would carry her upstairs and no one would say a thing? >> it didn't appear uncommon to any resident of gillette hall. >> reporter: then, at 2:35 a.m. the woman is dragged out of the elevator and dumped on the hallway floor. cell phone pictures are taken of her as she lies on the ground. one student moves in for a close-up. she is then moved down the hall and into room 213. >> it looked like they were carrying a dead body down the hall. >> the surveillance video shows that in the next half hour or so the young woman ended up back in the hallway. she was moved. she was dropped.

>> reporter: shortly after 3:00 a.m., the woman has been inside room 213 for nearly half an hour with four men and a fifth who claims to have been sleeping. brandon, now wearing red shorts, walks out with a towel on his head and throws it over a surveillance camera. if they were trying to conceal their identities, they were a little late. later, all the players involved exit the room. and in fact, some exit the floor entirely, leaving brandon to figure out what to do next. he makes a phone call to other teammates and they run to his rescue. >> they were in complete cover-up mode. >> he came to vanderbilt university and made it about two weeks before he got into an ordeal of a lifetime. >> reporter: an ordeal, the defense says, that could have been prevented. campus cops are in the area, but they are investigating another matter. >> they have 1,200 cameras all over the campus with apparently no one watching on the other end. >> what happened when they saw this footage? what did the authorities do next? >> as i understand it, an investigation began immediately

on campus that involved athletic staff. it involved the deans and other campus staff, and very quickly, the city police got involved. >> reporter: that's where detectives chad gish and jason mayo of metro nashville police come in. >> at the time, she knew absolutely nothing. she knew she had gone out with friends the night before, and that's it. >> reporter: detectives know something went on in room 213. they just don't what. and they have yet to determine if brandon vandenburg was protector or predator. >> in her heart, she truly believed that brandon vandenburg would never let anything happen to her. >> reporter: when we return -- inside the interrogation room, a battle for the truth. then, a second video surfaces, and even grizzled detectives are stunned. >> it was atrocious. >> i tried my best to describe the images, but there's no words for it.

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"20/20" continues with reversal of fortune. once again, ryan smith. >> reporter: nashville, tennessee. the third coast, as it's often called. home to some of the country's biggest stars and best colleges. but there's evidence of misconduct the music city. vanderbilt university's campus police have accidentally stumbled upon a suspicious surveillance video. a young woman, helpless and half clothed, in the clutches of football players, being dragged seemingly unconscious through a dorm hallway after a night of hard drinking. but what actually happened? typical college hijinks or a crime? campus police go to the pros --

digital forensic investigator chad gish and sex crimes detective jason mayo of metro nashville police. their alarm bells go off immediately. >> i didn't know what happened. but i thought something did happen. >> it didn't take a whole lot of investigation skills to understand what we thought we had on our hands at that point. >> reporter: and what did you think you had? >> sexual assault. >> reporter: mayo parades a who's who of vanderbilt students in for questioning, beginning with the 21-year-old woman in the video. the honor student says she has no memory of what happened after fireball shots and mixed drinks at the tin roof bar. and no recall of any alleged assault. >> how often do you have a case where you're called about a victim, and not the victim coming to you about a possible sexual assault? >> i have never investigated an adult case where the victim didn't already at least suspect something. >> reporter: in their first meeting with the alleged victim, detective mayo shows her screen grabs from the surveillance video.

in addition to blurring the video, "20/20" is altering the young woman's voice. >> i can't tell. is that me? >> that is you. you're being carried in. how much do you think you had to drink that night? >> i don't remember. >> you don't remember anything once you left the tin roof? >> right. >> until you woke up the next morning. >> right. >> when you woke up the next morning, you had no -- there was no pain? >> i didn't have any pain. >> nothing to make you think that anything took place during the night? >> i felt really hung over, but i wasn't in any pain that would make me think i'd been assaulted. >> reporter: but detectives still suspect foul play. next step -- identifying the four vanderbilt football players seen in the video. at the center of the storm, new recruit brandon vandenburg. he's been in a relationship with her. they were drinking together at the tin roof that night. with him are his new teammates -- 19-year-old brandon banks.

19-year-old nashville native cory batey. and 18-year-old sophomore jaborian "tip" mckenzie. all four are seen entering dorm room 213 with the woman, staying inside for 30 minutes two days after the alleged incident, all four meet again at a restaurant. detectives think it's so that they can get their stories straight. brandon banks is called up but he's not biting. >> what was your involvement inside the room? >> i ain't touch that girl. other than moving her. >> who did touch her? >> you were in the room, but didn't see nothing? >> i didn't see anything. >> i get what you are doing, sticking to the story and not wanting to sell out your teammate or snitch. if that's the story you want to stick with, roll those dice, buddy. 'cause i'm telling you, it will end up bad for you. >> reporter: mayo also questions other players who were not in the room, but seen in the hallways at the dorm that night. they tell consistent accounts of seeing the college co-ed.

>> what condition was she in when you saw her? >> she was passed out. basically, like her shirt, was stretched up, like right here. >> she was naked. she was laying like she was dead. >> face down. it looked like she had been slapped on the butt. >> reporter: but mayo zeroes in on the conversations the students say they had with brandon vandenburg that night. conversations that for star wide receiver and team leader chris boyd sounded incriminating. >> his story kept changing. he kept just talking and just going 100 miles per hour. i think he was in shock, didn't really know what to do. >> reporter: but commodores quarterback austin carta samuels tells police brandon vandenburg claimed he was blameless. >> did anything ever come up about that he was involved in any kind of sexual activity with her? >> no. he claimed that he didn't, over and over again. >> did he ever claim who did have sexual contact with her? >> he just alluded to other guys. he just said other guys.

>> okay. >> reporter: austin says he also spoke to tip mckenzie. >> he told me that he was extremely scared, just because he said that he had had no part in anything that was going on in the room. and so, he just wanted to tell me that he hadn't done anything. >> reporter: football pal dillon vanderwall says vandenburg pointed the finger at cory batey. >> okay, so brandon vandenburg is telling you that he tried to have sex with her, but was not able to. >> yeah. >> he wasn't able to have sex with her, because he was so drunk. >> reporter: within hours of the alleged incident, sheepish whispers turn to rampant rumors spreading throughout the locker room. >> there was a bunch of different stuff flying around the team saying like, "they did this to her and they did that to her." it was just the most disturbing things i've ever heard. >> reporter: jake bernstein, a football player and the woman's ex-boyfriend, is appalled. >> that's when i told her, i was like, "something might have happened to you this weekend

that you may have not recollected." >> reporter: but during her interview with police, she seems to be giving brandon the benefit of the doubt. >> my feeling is that brandon didn't do anything. i'm really concerned that -- i think he was just trying to help me. i feel like he's getting in trouble for trying to help me. >> nobody's in trouble. >> i don't think he should have left me laying in the street or something. >> reporter: and she goes even further, telling police that the day after the alleged incident the couple had consensual sex. >> i've been seeing him. he's one of my friends. i trust him. >> reporter: she didn't believe at that point she had been raped. >> no. she's -- her -- in her heart, at that time, she truly believed that brandon vandenburg would never let anything happen to her. >> reporter: police suggest a rape kit even though it's past the recommended 72-hour limit. she reluctantly agrees. >> would you be willing to go

around to the emergency room for a medical legal exam? >> i mean would that tell me if something happened or not? >> it could. or it couldn't. >> reporter: the kit would provide no proof of an assault, but police say something else soon would. it turns out there are yet more videos, discovered by the two detectives. but these were recorded inside room 213, and police believe they will be the smoking guns in the case. when we come back, police think they've found a treasure trove of digital evidence. and an incriminating google search, "can police retrieve deleted picture messages?" turns out -- they can. >> they're going to find all the videos dude. >> reporter: stay with us.

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sweet. totino's blasted crust rolls... yeah. flavor at full blast >> reporter: nashville police have a problem. the vanderbilt senior they believe is a victim of a crime and says she has no memory of what happened to her. surveillance video and interviews have led detectives

to suspect rape, but they have no physical proof, no dna, and no suspects coming forward with a confession. so what exactly happened inside dorm room 213? four football players. brandon vandenburg, cory batey, "tip" mckenzie, and brandon banks, were in the room with the woman for 30 minutes. when you spoke to these four men, did they say a rape had happened? >> no. >> reporter: so they said they were there but nothing happened. >> right. they truly thought, at that time, "they'll never figure this out. as long as we keep together, keep our mouth shut, they'll never figure this out." >> reporter: but police believe they have a breakthrough thanks to an admission by a couple of other players on the team. they've seen video from a cell phone of what allegedly took place inside that room. >> what did you see in the video? >> i noticed somebody laying there. >> it looked like a girl just laying on the ground. >> reporter: finding the videos, they say, is now the key to the case. >> we knew the videos were taken.

we knew many videos were taken. and the investigation shted at that point to, "let's put all of our effort right now into recovering the videos." >> reporter: police seize the phones and computers from the four men in the room. and it reveals a treasure trove of text messages, like this one from cory batey to a friend, a day and a half after the incident. "the video is gone right?" "nobody else knows besides you" and this one, "video deleted?" >> seems like it couldn't be more brazen of a cover-up. >> completely. >> "did you delete this? you delete that?" >> completely. >> reporter: and gish finds incriminating google searches on brandon vandenburg's phone. "can police retrieve deleted picture messages." brandon has reason to worry they say because he's sent videos to two close friends back in his hometown of palm desert, california. four weeks after the incident the detectives are on a plane. first stop, joey quinzio, one of brandon's best friends since age

13. >> he couldn't believe that we were there. but he knew why we were there. >> he knew immediately. >> he knew. >> brandon sent you some text messages and a video. >> did you watch the video that he sent to you? >> i didn't. >> you didn't? >> no. >> reporter: but friend miles finley reluctantly admits he's seen it. >> phones don't lie, man. that's why we're here. >> the video i got was just of this black dude playing with a girl on the floor. >> playing with a girl on the floor how? what were they playing? >> doing stuff between her legs. >> reporter: after seeing the video, finley warns brandon in a text. "she can call rape. delete that [ bleep ]. then some repulsive advice. "dog kick that [ expletive ] out or gang bang her." "don't let her wake up." >> why did you say that? >> i wasn't being serious. >> when you see something going on like that and it's a rape maybe you should call the police. >> did that ever occur to you? maybe i should tell somebody about what i just seen? >> i knew it would come out. >> reporter: sounds like brandon

does too. just 30 minutes after the incident he phones friend, joey quinzio, and says -- >> i'm in deep [ bleep ]. you got to call me back. >> reporter: police say that what brandon and his friends did next was an attempted cover-up. finley claims he dropped his phone in a pool. >> it was cracked. was time for a new iphone. >> did you trade it in? tossed it in the trash? >> i just threw it out. >> reporter: quinzio claims his phone was stolen. >> okay. did you report your phone stolen to apple so they could shut it down? >> no. >> reporter: but it didn't matter. police find those elusive videos after all, backed up on quinzio's hard drive. his phone automatically synched the video to his computer. for the dectectives, it's the nail in the coffin. >> hardest thing i probably ever had to look at. and i knew right then that all of the pieces were falling into place. there she is being raped. >> we just recovered the worst nightmare for this victim.

>> reporter: according to police, the videos show brandon banks taking intimate and inappropriate photos of her body. and banks and corey batey using their hands and even a water bottle to penetrate her. and investigators say brandon vandenburg is heard callously giggling and egging the others on. all along the four players have stuck to their plan. deny, deny, deny. but what they don't know is players are turning on each other. brandon vandenburg agreed to call corey batey with police recording the line in an attempt to get batey to confess. >> this [ bleep ] is bad dude. >> what did they say? >> dude, we are [ bleep ]. they got videos of everything. the videos that i took of you when i was in the room you know. >> yeah. what do you mean? >> i'm pretty sure the video i took, it didn't have you like having sex with her or nothing but i have either you or banks [ bleep ].

i don't know how much trouble you can get in for that [ bleep ]. >> reporter: batey keeps quiet in that call. but another player has broken rank. "tip" mckenzie has caved and he's pointing his finger at his best friends corey batey, and brandon banks. >> corey batey approaches the girl first as a joke. he's really clowning he's drunk. he's like, "hey man get this on camera." he's messing with the girl. his hands down there like he is touching the girl in a sexual way. >> what was banks doing? >> banks had the bottle. >> if i'm understanding you right, the only people who did anything to her either with a bottle or their hands are batey and banks? > yes, ma'am. >> did vandeburg ever touch her or participate in the clowning, touching her or anything like that? >> i really don't think so. i'm not sure, but what i can remember i don't think he did. >> reporter: that interview and the videos, it's more than enough for prosecutors to make a case.

>> once we saw the evidence, we were just appalled. >> reporter: vanderbilt has already kicked the four players off the football team and out of school. and august 9th, less than two months after the alleged incident, they are charged with rape. >> today marks day one of the trial. >> reporter: next. the trial. contentious moments in the court. >> don't look over there. i'm asking you a question. >> reporter: a controversial defense. blame it on the booze. >> blame it on the alcohol correct? >> reporter: and one of the defendants, corey batey, takes makes a shocking admission. >> do you take responsibility for your conduct? >> reporter: stay with us. sold! how bout the... stop drilling, you struck oil. there's a sign behind me isn't there? i like it, but can the sign do this? that one can. i forgot about that one.

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"20/20" continues with ryan smith. and reversal of fortune. >> reporter: on the lush green campus of vanderbilt university, police say the unspeakable happened to a 21-year-old co-ed. it breaks the heart of a veteran detective to have to show her that horrific video of the alleged assault. >> she was just so sure that brandon vandenburg would never let anything happen to her. and then when i told her what happened, it was like it crushed her. >> reporter: judgment day has finally arrived for cory batey and brandon vandenburg, the pair on trial for aggravated rape inside a dorm room. codefendants tip mckenzie and brandon banks set to be tried at a later date. >> little did she know that day that had such great promise for her would turn into her worst nightmare. a nightmare she'd live with for a long time. and they almost got away with it. they almost succeeded.

not only did they violate the laws of the state, the very principles of human decency. >> reporter: but rather indecency and intoxication would take center stage. >> how often did you do these pregame parties before you went out and hit the bars? >> this is something that everyone partakes in probably every time before they go out. >> reporter: as vanderbilt student after student took the stand to testify. >> at any time did you attempt to speak to her? >> no, sir. >> or at any time did you check on her welfare? >> no, sir. >> reporter: no one alerted anyone. not even her roommate, lauren miller, who noticed something odd the morning after the incident. >> so when you came outside, your best friend's shoe was on the lawn and her car is gone. >> correct. >> and so you call the police? >> i did not call the police. i didn't report it because i didn't have a concern at the time. >> reporter: but once lauren saw her later that day, red flags went up. >> when i first saw her, it

was -- my immediate reaction was "whoa, what happened to you?" >> reporter: she took a photo of what looked like injuries on her friend's buttocks. >> you can clearly see some bruising on the butt cheek along with what appears to be some sort of imprint on her butt. >> this was also part of my exhibit 2c. >> reporter: after days of listening to others talk about her, the woman at the center of it all testifies herself. "20/20" is altering her voice. >> i've never felt like that in my life. >> reporter: for 90 minutes, she keeps the courtroom riveted with details of a hazy night at the tin roof, and an evening that comes to a halt after sipping a blue beverage. >> did you finish the blue drink? >> i don't remember finishing it. >> what's the next thing that you remember? >> i remember waking up in an unfamiliar room at eight something the next morning. >> reporter: in a fog, she texts brandon vandenburg to fill in the blanks. in brandon's version, he's the

knight in shining armor. >> what did he tell you? >> i had gotten sick in his room, and he had to spend the whole night taking care of me. and that it was horrible. i apologized. i was embarrassed. >> reporter: brandon continued to lay on the guilt trip in texts. on the stand she reads some of those messages. >> i didn't do anything. i feel like i'm getting blamed for stuff that didn't even happen. i just want to cry. me and a bunch of my teammates are probably going to get kicked off the team unless something changes. >> and what was your main concern at that time? >> my main concern was protecting mr. vandenburg. >> reporter: the pair meet up later that day. >> how was he treating you? >> he was being extremely kind, nicer than usual. >> what happened next? >> he kissed me. then he initiated intercourse. >> and how long did that last? >> a few seconds. >> reporter: what she is never told by brandon is that he took

video of her from inside that room -- and shared it with friends. two months later, she would see those videos for the first time. >> were you able to identify yourself? >> that was me. >> the video you did view, did it have audio also? >> it did. >> did you hear a voice? >> i heard a voice i recognized. >> and whose voice did you hear on the video? >> brandon vandenburg. >> the horrific laughing from brandon vandenburg and just the awful degrading tone that they were using. >> reporter: brandon's not laughing anymore. he's watching stoically as his childhood best friends, facing charges of their own, testify against him about trying to cover up the cell phone video. joey quinzio saying he felt intimidated and lied to police. >> i believe i was being coerced. >> by who? >> by mr. vandenburg and his attorney. >> reporter: and miles finley saying brandon destroyed evidence. >> did he tell you what happened to your cell phone? >> yes. >> what did he say happened? >> he said he smashed it and

threw it in the lake. >> reporter: during cross examination, brandon's defense attorney seized on some of miles' text messages sent during the alleged assault. "dog kick that [ bleep ] out or gang bang her." "don't let her wake up." >> you were giving him direction that night telling him what to do, weren't you, mr. finley? don't look at him. look up here at me. why are you looking over there? i'm over here. who are you looking at? are you trying to get an answer from somebody over here? >> sir, could you please calm down because i'm not yelling at you. >> reporter: eventually he does calm down, and attempts to make a distinction that his client did not penetrate the victim sexually and therefore should not be charged with rape. >> he is taking responsibility for what he did. he shouldn't have taken those photographs. he shouldn't have sent those photographs. that is what he did. what he shouldn't have to take responsibility for is what he didn't do.

>> reporter: but for cory batey, the defense is tougher. remember, police say he was seen on video touching the woman. so his legal team throws a hail mary, and calls cory himself to testify -- something defendants rarely do. cory, who grew up in the rough part of nashville and whose mom works at vanderbilt, appears nervous but is sure to make eye contact with jurors. at times, his memory is razor sharp, but ask him how photos of her got on his phone, his mind goes blank. >> i didn't know how they got there. i didn't remember. and i didn't know what had happened to the young lady in the pictures and i immediately deleted them. >> reporter: cory estimates he had between 14 and 22 alcoholic drinks that night, and claims he still can't remember what happened on the night in question. >> what, if any, recollection today do you have of that event? >> none at all. >> reporter: but then, a stunning admission by the 20-year-old defendant -- one that is likely to send him to

prison. >> i was just drunk out of my mind. this is just something i would never do in the right state of mind. i'm just sorry. >> do you take responsibility for your conduct? >> after seeing the footage, i do. it was me. >> reporter: and then he tries to speak directly to the alleged victim. >> i would like to apologize -- >> reporter: but it's too little, too late. when "20/20" returns, a verdict is in -- a slam dunk. >> we the jury find cory batey guilty of aggravated rape. >> reporter: so why this week are they walking out of jail? because of this man -- a juror with a secret past that derails the whole trial. what was his secret? >> pennies from heaven is what we call that. >> reporter: stay with us. what about a "win-win-win"?

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>> reporter: after 12 days and 25 witnesses, prosecutors and attorneys for the two football players accused of raping a fellow vanderbilt student made their final pitches to the jury. >> you heard testimony from many witnesses but you also have physical evidence. you have photographs. >> reporter: photos and video of the alleged assault that were explosive and got traction with the jury. >> horrified. horrified and utterly disgusted. >> reporter: defense lawyers for the two young men, brandon vandenburg and corey batey, took different approaches.

batey's attorney worrick robinson suggests that the anything goes party culture on campus was the real culprit. >> what was the culture for corey batey? culture that encouraged underage drinking, consume alcohol to the point that you pass out and can't remember. >> reporter: brandon vandenberg's attorney takes a different approach. claiming his client was a virtual bystander and only filmed his teammates allegedly assaulting the college co-ed. >> i think mr. vandenberg's biggest defense is that is that is, not i and i should not be held accountable for the actions of others. honestly. >> reporter: he maintains brandon's only mistake was taking pictures. >> he took photographs that he never should have taken. >> reporter: after just three hours of deliberation this past january, the jury decided the fate of the two young men. >> in regards to mr. vandenburg, count one, we find mr. vandenburg of aggravated rape. >> reporter: brandon was in disbelief.

and there was an outcry from his father. cory batey, on the day of his 21st birthday, hung his head as the jury foreman reads. >> guilty. guilty. guilty. >> reporter: that's the voice of jury foreman todd easter, the very man at the center of a storm this week. >> while i was reading it, my only goal was to stay focused and deliver the justice, as best i could, directly to their faces. >> reporter: but now, he's the one being looked square in the face. i sat down with easter and two of his fellow jurors immediately after the verdict, long before he would be the subject of scrutiny. so take me into the deliberation room. your first job was to appoint a foreperson. tell me how that happened. you're both smiling at todd. >> i volunteered. >> reporter: todd and dr. deirdre young both volunteered to be that foreman. in fact, he campaigned for it.

giving a speech before his fellow jurors. >> he spoke about, what, ten minutes. and of course when it was my turn, i'm like, i did not prepare a speech for you guys today. >> i've had my eye on it for some time. >> reporter: unbeknownst to everyone, todd easter kept a secret from the court, something that almost certainly would have gotten him disqualified from being selected as a juror. >> well, there is stunning new developments this evening in the vanderbilt rape trial. >> reporter: a revelation that would undo the entire trial, pennies from heaven as this defense attorney puts it. >> pennies from heaven is what we call that breaks that just don't happen. because it has given these two boys new hope. >> reporter: it turns out, todd easter was himself the victim of a sexual assault. in 2000, easter was in a sexual relationship with a man named matt swift. the problem?

swift was 23. easter, only 16. a crime in the eyes of tennessee state law. swift was later convicted of statutory rape. >> you were the victim in the case state of tennessee versus matthew swift. >> legally, yes, sir. >> reporter: a rather large detail which easter failed to disclose during jury selection. >> it's hard to believe it just slipped his mind. the question becomes, why? >> reporter: so last week, on what should have been the sentencing day for cory batey and brandon vandenburg -- it was jury foreman tood easter in the hot seat being judged. >> and as you sat in the courtroom, did the case of state versus matthew swift cross your mind?

>> no, sir, it didn't. that had been sort of inconsequential at this point in my life. >> reporter: but it's not inconsequential now. vandenburg's attorney hammers away at the many instances jurors were asked if they had ever been a victim of a rape. >> 104 times, mr. easter was asked those questions. >> reporter: but easter said he didn't view what happened to him as rape. >> do you believe you were a victim of any sexual assault or rape? >> absolutely not. >> so it was all consensual, right? >> correct. >> reporter: the defense's argument, easter's desire to be on the jury, campaigning to be foreman, all based on bias. they ask the judge for a mistrial. >> todd easter is not a victim, judge. the justice system is the victim of todd easter's deceit and manipulation. that's the victim. >> reporter: and now, just this week, the judge makes a

bombshell decision, declaring a mistrial. >> late today, declaring a mistrial. >> it's quite stunning that a judge was willing to overturn the verdict. to throw out all the work that they had done. any time a judge throws out a verdict like this and orders a new trial, it's a big deal. >> reporter: it's a shocking reversal of fortune. brandon vandenburg and cory batey, who have spent the last six months behind bars, now walking out. >> do you have anything to say? >> he has no comment. >> he's not going to say anything. >> reporter: happily shedding their orange jumpsuits for tailored ones. for now at least, the judge reinstating their bail bond. they're forced to wear ankle bracelets. both men clutching bibles as they walked free. >> it was overwhelming but i think just walking out was the

greatest feeling in had in a long time. >> reporter: as for the alleged victim, she hasn't made a statement but is expected to once again take the stand at the new trial. >> even if that judge was absolutely right as a legal matter we can still also look at what this woman now has to go through again and say it's just not fair. >> reporter: three lives converged exactly two years ago, in dorm 213. brandon vandenberg, the football recruit from palm desert california, hoping to break into pro sports. cory batey, the accomplished tennessee native and the pride of his family. and the bright, beautiful neuroscience major. all of them are forever changed in a single night. >> there's no word yet on when the new trial will take place. but it could be as early as this

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