Kendall Sanders found not guilty of sexual assault

A Travis County jury has found a former UT football player not guilty.
Kendall Sanders, 21, was on trial for sexually assaulting a woman in the San Jacinto dorm. The jury
started deliberations on Thursday morning and the jury reached the verdict on Friday.
During the trial, Jane Doe took the stand and said she and some friends met Sanders and Montrel
Meander, 21, downtown while celebrating a birthday in 2014. Jane went home with Meander, whom
she described as a friend, but not her boyfriend. In his room in the San Jacinto dorms Doe admitted
to taking a shower in Meander's room, being heavily intoxicated and consenting to sex with him.

Defense attorney Brian Roark told the jury the friends will JaneDoe two very different versions of
what occurred. During opening statements, the defense attacked the rape investigation conducted
by UTPD. Roark says there are inconsistencies in her statements that were never completely
investigated. "None of Doe's statements have ever been challenged," said Roark. The defense argued
that everything between Doe and also the two former players was consensual, when Sanders took a
photo of her, but her tune changed. The fear of humiliation on social media is what propelled the
rape allegations according to Roark.
Five jurors flipped during talks to Sanders' side
On Friday morning, three jurors considered Kendall Sanders was guilty and two were unsure.
Ultimately, all five flipped for a verdict of not guilty. Sanders said he would "love to go back to UT,"
and that he has been contacted by Houston to play football. Inquired what happened together with
his accuser, Sanders said, "It wasn't rape. It was casual sex." A jury that had seemed headed for an
impasse acquitted former Texas Longhorn football player Kendall Sanders of sexual assault on
Friday and gotten to a consensus.
"I do not wish this upon anybody," Sanders told the American-Statesman. "You know deep down in
your heart you're innocent, but everybody's bashing you and you hear all these bad things about
you."
A jury of eight men and four women deliberated over two days for nearly 41/2 hours. According to
two members, talks opened Friday morning with three members considering Sanders was not
innocent and two uncertain. Among the five holdouts was Jeff Bagley, who told the Statesman that
insufficient evidence stood as roadblock.
"Not guilty was the correct verdict," Bagley said. "I do believe there was a general consensus, or at
least from rather a couple of jurors, that the rape did happen even if there wasn't enough evidence.
Bagley added "it was really close" to really being a hung jury, which would've resulted in a mistrial.
"We're disappointed in the verdict," prosecutor Andrea Austin said. "We considered the woman."
Juror Mitchell Herd, who was on the fence the day, to start, said the jury was convinced Sanders had
sex using a UT female pupil on the morning of June 21, 2014, but that it was unsure when the

woman had given her consent. In her first statements to police, the woman said when Sanders
commanded him to stop she had quit having sex with her. That was the defense detailed during
closing arguments.
"There was no other choice to be manufactured," Herd said. "That was the complete right decision to
be made. We're not happy because we know he is guilty; he did make the most of an extremely
drunk girl in a dorm room at the center of the night time. We know that morally he did something
quite wrong; we all agree on that. But lawfully we couldn't convict him."
Focus now shifts to Sanders' bid for redemption. He can now investigate options to continue his
college football career after he was dismissed by UT due to the assault charge. He explained he's
been approached about playing football at Houston, where Cougars assistant coach Major
Applewhite, who trained Sanders at UT could be reunited with by Sanders. Sanders, he goes who's
told of one year of qualification, said he'll petition the NCAA for a second year.
He failed to rule out returning to UT, saying, "I do not blame coach (Charlie) Strong.
"I'd love to go back to UT."
Sanders, who didn't testify at trial, was asked for his version of what occurred when a woman
asserted she was assaulted by Sanders vaginally and orally.
"It was not rape," he said.
Austin, the prosecutor, said she planned to review the Sanders trial before deciding whether the
state will continue to trial against Montrel Meander, another former UT football player who had
been charged in an identical episode that involved Sanders. Austin said the state's case was feebler
than the one against Sanders, presumably as the woman confessed to having consensual sex and
because she did not identify Meander.
Roark said he believes Meander's case needs to be dropped.
"If they couldn't demonstrate that Mr. Sanders had done anything, it might be amazingly hard to
prove Mr. Meander did," said Roark, who's not representing Meander.Kendall Sanders found not
guilty
A Travis County jury has found a former UT football player not guilty.
Kendall Sanders, 21, was on trial for sexually assaulting a female in the San Jacinto dorm. The jury
started deliberations on Thursday morning, and the verdict was reached by the jury on Friday.
During the trial, the stand was taken by Jane Doe and said she and some friends met with Montrel
Meander and Sanders, 21, downtown while celebrating birthday. She went home with Meander,
whom she described as a friend, but not her boyfriend. In his room in the San Jacinto dorms on the
University of Texas campus, Doe acknowledged to accepting to sex with a shower in Meander's
room, taking him and being heavily intoxicated.
Defense attorney Brian Roark told the jury the friends will JaneDoe two very different versions of
what happened. Roark says there are inconsistencies in her statements that were never fully
investigated. "None of her statements have ever been challenged," said Roark. The defense claimed
that everything between Doe as well as the two former players was consensual, when Sanders took a

photo of her during sex, but her tune changed. Humiliation on social media's fear is what inspired
the rape allegations according to Roark.
Five jurors flipped to Sanders' side during talks
On Friday morning, three jurors considered two were unsure and Kendall Sanders was guilty.
Ultimately, all five flipped for a verdict. Sanders said he would "love to go back to UT," and that he's
been contacted by Houston to play football. Inquired what happened together with his accuser,
Sanders said, "It was not rape. A jury that had seemed headed for an impasse gotten to a consensus
and acquitted former Texas Longhorn football player Kendall Sanders of sexual assault on Friday.
Sanders, who was facing up to 20 years in prison for the second-degree felony, hugged his lawyer,
Brian Roark, as members of Sanders' family burst into tears in the courtroom gallery.
"I do not wish this upon anybody," Sanders told the American Statesman. "You understand deep
down in your heart you are innocent, but everybody's bashing you and you hear each one of these
terrible things about you."
A jury of eight men and four women deliberated over two days for almost 41/2 hours. According to
two members, discussions opened with three members considering Sanders was two unsure and not
innocent. On the list of five holdouts was Jeff Bagley, who told the Statesman that inadequate
evidence stood as a roadblock to finding Sanders guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
"Not guilty was the correct verdict," Bagley said. "I do believe there was a general consensus, or at
least from rather several jurors, that the rape did happen even if there wasn't enough evidence. We
kind of got stuck there."
"We're disappointed in the verdict," prosecutor Andrea Austin said. "We considered the woman."
Juror Mitchell Herd, who was undecided the day to begin, said the jury was convinced Sanders had
sex using a UT female pupil on the morning but that it was not clear when the woman had given her
approval. In her first statements to police, the woman said Sanders had quit having sex with her
when she commanded him to cease. That was the defense detailed during closing arguments.
"There was no other choice to be made," Herd said. "That was the complete right decision to be
produced. We're not happy because we understand he's guilty; he did make the most of a really
intoxicated girl in a dorm room at the center of the night. We all know that morally he did something
really wrong; we agree on that. But lawfully we could not convict him."
Focus now shifts to Sanders' bid for redemption. He will now explore options to keep his college
football career after UT fired him because of the assault charge. He explained he's been approached
about playing football at Houston, where Sanders could reunite with Cougars assistant coach Major
Applewhite, who coached Sanders. Sanders, he goes, who is promised of one year of eligibility, said
he'll petition the NCAA for another year.
He didn't rule out returning to UT, saying, "I do not blame trainer (Charlie) Strong. He did
everything he could."
"I'd love to return to UT."
UT declined to comment about Sanders' acquittal.

Sanders, who didn't testify at trial, was asked for his version of what happened when a woman
claimed Sanders assaulted her vaginally and orally.
"It wasn't rape," he said.

Austin, the prosecutor, said she intended to review the Sanders trial before determining if the state
will continue against Montrel Meander, another former UT football player who had been charged in
the exact same event that involved Sanders. Austin said the state's case against Meander was
feebler against Sanders, presumably as the woman admitted to having consensual sex and because
she failed to identify Meander as her attacker.
Roark said he believes Meander's case must be dropped.
"If they could not demonstrate that Mr. Sanders had done anything, it'd be extraordinarily difficult
to show Mr. Meander did," said Roark, who's not representing Meander.