2:28 -- Redirect of Officer Smidt: Suggesting that if Cook was being help back by teammates, the force of his punch could have been reduced, the state asks the officer if that was plausible (agrees).
2:20 -- Cross of Officer Smidt: Clarifies that Lubeski's words and written speech were incoherent ... defense challenges the method of using the roster for ID and not saying anything about looking up a roster in his incident report ... brings up inconsistency in the number of players allegedly attacking the accuser, from 5-7 to a "group" to then just one (Cook) ... Witness who was allegedly hit in the head never mentioned it or any head pain ... defense confirms only two people who can claim to have seen Cook hit Geohegan are the accuser and Lubeski, who was extremely drunk ... "to me, no, it did not look like she got hit with a fist in the face," he said, responding to whether the injury looked consistent with being punched in the face
2:11 -- Officer Smidt: Arrived at 2:24, both females were upset, both accuser and friend (Keara Lubeski) were inoxicated, Lubeski "extremely" so. ... Defense objects to characterization of Geohegan's statement writing as "neat, concise," state says it is used to contrast level of intoxication, as Lubeski's is messy and incoherent ... when they realized person who hit her may be on the team, officer pulled up roster with photos, and only one they could recognize was Travis Rudolph, but made it clear Rudolph was only present, he did not hit her ...
2:08 -- Sergeant Varbol, off duty police officer working security at Clydes, cross examination: Defense establishes that Varbol never made a written record of what he saw and no act of violence was observed.
2:02 -- Sergeant Varbol, off duty police officer working security at Clydes: Saw group of males and females outside Clydes, did not see arguing shortly after 2am ... Did not see any others on the sidewalk ... did not see a punch, accuser with bloody lip told him that she was hit ... no need to call for ambulance and no suspect in the area to pursue so he calls the patrol duty to come
1:53 -- Accuser's friend (Keara Lubeski, 19yo) cross-examined: Defense raising point that other players must have been inside the bar because witness saw Noonie Murray earlier ... witness does not agree that being drunk causes a person to not see things as they actually occur. ... Q "So you don't remember the argument but you remember standing behind Rudolph?" A "Yes" Q"So despite the fact that Rudolph is much bigger than you and you were so drunk that you can't remember the argument, you can say with absolute certainty that you saw the punch" ... "And you do not have a written report of what happened two months ago because you were too drunk to write it, correct?" ... "So it is up to the court to determine what you can actually remember" ... (Defense brings up other inconsistencies from her verbal statement that night) ... Witness says "just because I had a couple drinks doesn't mean I didn't know what was happening"
1:35 -- Accuser's friend (Keara Lubeski, 19yo) takes the stand for direct testimony: Immediately saw Rudolph and Nyquan Murray "Noonie" at Clydes bar. ... Cannot recall how many drinks she had, admits she was drunk ... Says players kept bothering her and accuser, cannot remember exactly how they wouldn't leave her alone ... remembers accuser was arguing with Da'Vante Phillips (she thinks this is Cook's brother, apparently), saying "just because you're football players doesn't mean your'e big" ... "everything hit the fan and can't remember what was said during the ensuing argument" ... she was standing behind Cook and saw him hit the accuser, says she jumped in and tried to get everyone to chill out but was struck in the temple by a punch that was intended for the accuser, she does not know if Cook landed more punched ... She "went blank" after she saw the accuser was hit and her head was hurting, she and the accuser fell back against a truck on the street ... After the accuser called the police, the players ran away ... Used instagram to find photos of Travis Rudolph's friends and picked out Cook that way ...
1:20 -- State brings up precedent to admit Dalvin Cook's statement to police, and the defense is arguing against, citing lack of relevancy. Audio will not be allowed in, but the state can ask officer what was said.
Lauryn Vickers of the FSView is now helping with the reporting as well.
12:00 -- Lunch break, no more questions for accuser.
11:55 -- State redirect of Madison Geohegan: Can't recall everything but remembers who hit her ... felt many emotions ... does not know how many punches were thrown ... grew up in FSU household and doesn't follow football at all ...
11:35 -- Cross examination of Madison Geohegan: Defense team attacks inconsistencies between accuser's 911 call and her current testimony, making an issue of how much she had to drink and attempting to introduce reasonable doubt and lessen her credibility in the eyes of the jury ... state's objection to defense's "confusing" line of testimony is overruled ... "You're saying you were hit multiple times by a 215-pound football player and the only damage you had was to your lip?" "Yes" ... Asked if football player boyfriend T.J. Davis, of Auburn, with whom she was on the phone at time of looking at some photos with police had any help in ID'ing cook and says no ... Lots of questions raising issues about the photo lineup Madison Geohegan was shown and whether outside influence may have assisted her too much in ID'ing Cook" ... Defense says "Let me get this straight, Dalvin Cook came after you and hit you multiple times and you were able to say 'hit me again'?" "Yes" ... Issues raised about the motivation and timing of pressing charges.
11:03 -- More testimony from Madison Geohegan: Wanted to tell her story right then as opposed to getting medical attention, didn't want to go to the hospital, was tired. ... Was crying during 911 call due to embarrassment of having been hit ... cop took picture of "busted lip" (shown to jury) ... Accuser tears up when asked to identify herself in pictures ... given box of tissues and jury leaves room momentarily and returns ... Photos show visible split lip and blood from lip on chin/shirt ... accuser's knee dirty ... doesn't remember exactly how her knee became dirty ... no other visible injuries or bruising from photos ... lip hurt bad for several days ... was embarrassed about how her lip looked ... "wasn't herself" when looking through photo lineup on website, says photos were 1X1 each, identified only Travis Rudolph ... didn't want to press charges ... ID'd Cook after being at Mint Nightclub/lounge three days later, was not drinking ... "Cook smirked like he was invincible, like he was untouched" ... She then picked him out of a photo from Travis Rudolph's instagram, and showed it to her dad, who knew it was Dalvin Cook ...
10:37 -- 911 Call to be played for the court.
10:10 -- Madison Geohegan testimony: She and a friend went to Cancun's and had drinks and food (said Cancun's did not ID underage), then to Clyde's and Costello's (the bar outside which the alleged event occurred). ... When leaving the bar, she was "pretty buzzed", but not "fall down drunk." ... Says a taller player (not Cook) caller her a "hoe" for her dancing, and she got angry and responded with "if I'm a hoe, your mom's a hoe," which angered the player (Da'Vante Phillips, whose mother was murdered." Phillips becomes more angry over the response about his mother, and Dalvin Cook steps in and tells Madison Geohegan that Phillips' mother is dead (murdered in a drive-by). ... Madison Geohegan says Cook was "very nice" and said "chill out, chill out." ... She says other players behind Cook were "hot headed" ... Travis Rudolph asked Madison Geohegan if she really had a boyfriend, she said yes, and he said "he's cheating on you," which angered her and she and Rudolph engaged in a heated argument. ... She pushed him away "hard" with two hands as he was close to her and yelling ... Rudolph walked away from the situation after that. ... The players were saying "google us, we can buy you in two years (referring to future NFL contracts)" ... She replied "everyone's on google" ... In response, she told her friend "let's go" and claims Cook then hit her (identifies him in court) ... After the punch, her friend tried to step in and break it up, Cook swung again, missed, and she fell back into the street/on a truck. ... She then said "I can't believe you really hit me, if you really wanna do it, hit me again. ... "Not sure" how many punches Dalvin Cook threw or if she was actually hit a second time, claims friend was also hit while Cook was trying to punch her again. ... Said her friend's head hurt and that her own lip was bleeding. ... Not sure how many players were there because she was "losing it." ... Recalls being hit in the back of the head ... Described 911 call state saying "you could tell I had those margaritas, I was crying." ... Said players ran off after that and she called 911.
9:55 -- Cook's defense opening statement: Madison Geohegan did not require any assistance, "not even a band-aid after a 215-pound man hit her." ... Madison Geohegan did not want to press charges, but was urged to do so by others around her. ... Claims that Dalvin Cook was attempting to be the peacekeeper in an argument that was getting heated. "Cook never hit, struck or inappropriately touched Madison Geohegan, he was calm, a peacemaker." ... Madison Geohegan asked Dalvin Cook to walker her back to her car and he said no. ... Notes friend/witness of Madison Geohegan was extremely intoxicated ... Reminds jury Madison Geohegan could not ID Cook immediately after incident with photos from FSU's roster ... Says "it doesn't add up" three times.
9:40 -- The state, in its opening statement, claims that Da'Vante Phillips was flirting with the accuser, but it went poorly and became heated and and Dalvin Cook came over to at first attempt to calm the situation. An argument ensued after she told them that her boyfriend played for Auburn and Cook and some players told her that they could "buy her with their contracts in two years." The state claims that the accuser said "everyone is on google" in response to the players saying "google us," and Cook then punched her in the mouth, busting her lip. The state says that Cook had to be held back and repeatedly tried to hit the accuser again, may have struck her. ... The state said that the 911 call was made in a fluster and shock, explaining why the accuser could not give the operator a clear version of events, but will in court Monday. ... The state says that none of the photos shown by the police initially were recognized as Cook, but after seeing Cook out again at a night club several days later, Cook smirked at her and she then found Cook through the friend section on Travis Rudolph's Facebook page. ... The state noted differing stories told by Da'Vante Phillips, Travis Rudolph and Deondre Francois when interviewed by police.
9:26 -- Audio of Dalvin Cook's interview will not be admitted at this point but, portions could be admitted later.
9:10 -- Cook does not want to take the stand, and would like his recorded statement given to the police to be stricken so that he does not have to take the stand to rebut it.
9:05 -- Receivers Travis Rudolph and Da'Vante Phillips, as well as QB Deondre Francois are present as witnesses.
9:03 -- Dalvin Cook's accuser, Madison Geohegan, will be first to testify.
9:00 -- Defense no longer has any objection to receiver Da'Vante Phillips testifying. This was an issue during jury selection.
TALLAHASSEE, FLA. -- The misdemeanor battery trial for Florida State star Dalvin Cook begins Monday. Tomahawk Nation's Andrew Miller will be in the courtroom providing updates from the proceedings.
Cook is accused of punching a Tallahassee woman multiple times in the face outside a bar in July. He was suspended indefinitely upon being arrested, but has denied the accusation through his defense attorney, maintaining that he never punched the woman.
The trial begins at 9 am in front of Augustus D. Aikens, Jr., and is expected to last just one day, though two is not out of the question. Questions now exist about the quality of the evidence against Cook after Aikens granted a defense motion for sanctions and threw out some evidence that the state wanted to introduce against Cook, including apologetic tweets from an imposter twitter account that was actually not Cook.
In multiple conversations, Cook's attorney Ricky Patel has told Tomahawk Nation that they are confident the evidence will show his client is innocent, and that accepting a plea deal was never a consideration. The case will likely swing on witness testimony presented by the state and defense.
Cook is one of the best running backs in the country after a very impressive freshman season, rushing for 1,000 yards despite not being a full-time starter for the year. If Cook is found guilty, he is in jeopardy of not playing this season after university president John Thrasher said that he does not tolerate the behavior described in the accusation. Florida State previously dismissed freshman De'Andre Johnson earlier this summer after he punched a woman in the face in a bar on video.
If Cook is found not guilty, it is possible that he will be back in the starting lineup September 5 against Texas State in Tallahassee.
While waiting for the trial to start, consider catching up on the Florida State football season preview podcast series. Listen to the first three episodes, below.
