Vanderbilt rape case defendants: Juror withheld information

Published Jun. 15, 2015 2:42 p.m. ET

foxsports

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Defense attorneys for two former Vanderbilt football players convicted in the dorm-room rape of a student are asking a judge to declare a mistrial, saying a juror intentionally withheld information that he was a rape victim during the jury selection process.

The juror, 31-year-old Todd Easter, testified Monday during a hearing that he didn't withhold information because he doesn't consider himself a victim.

A Sumner County man was convicted of raping Easter when he was 16. However, Easter testified that his relationship with the man was consensual and that his parents were the ones who pressed charges.

A Nashville jury convicted the former Vanderbilt players in January of multiple counts of aggravated rape and sexual battery for the June 2013 campus assault of an unconscious female student.

The Associated Press generally does not identify victims of alleged sexual crimes, but Easter, who was the jury foreman, agreed to have his name included in news stories.