Her voice was low, her tone somber, and her words chosen carefully as the victim in the Vanderbilt University rape trial took the stand Wednesday for the fourth time in as many years.
She was a young, bright, hopeful college senior the night of June 22, 2013 when former Vanderbilt University football player Brandon Vandenburg brought her to the Tin Roof in Midtown Nashville. The last thing she remembered was being handed a blue drink by Vandenburg, who was convicted of rape in 2016. Twelve hours later she woke up alone and half dressed on the cold concrete floor of a dorm room inside Gillette Hall.
"The next thing I remember is waking up alone in a room that I didn't recognize, it was around 8 a.m. the next morning," she struggled to say through tears as prosecutors questioned her on the witness stand Wednesday morning.
Feet away sat one of the four men who officials said raped the victim. Brandon Banks remained emotionless, his eyes turning only slightly to glance at the young woman as she struggled at times to maintain her composure. His attorneys though maintained Banks acted under duress and was coerced by his former teammates.
Read More: Vanderbilt Rape Trial Continues For Banks
On Friday, exactly four years will have passed since she was raped. You could hear in her voice and see in her eyes that this entire ordeal has weighed heavily on the young woman.
This time, prosecutors decided not to play video of the rape uncovered by detectives on an iPhone. In the 45 second clip you can allegedly see Brandon Banks sexually assaulting the victim with a water bottle as he's being told to "Squeeze that s---," by his former teammate Brandon Vandenburg.
The victim only knew she was assaulted after being shown the video by detectives.
"Did you give anyone permission to touch you that night?" prosecutors asked.
"Absolutely not," the victim responded.
And with that, the state rested their case.
