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Early Cook trial updates
AFTERNOON TRIAL UPDATES:
NOTE: FSU sent out a release around 1 p.m. noting that practice is now closed to the media. Jimbo Fisher was scheduled to talk to the media after practice but that will not happen now. My guess is that Fisher, Stan Wilcox and possibly president Thrasher want to talk over how they are going to handle Cook's status with the team after the verdict comes in. Fisher might have had a very small window between the verdict and when he had to speak to the media about Cook's status.
1:35 p.m. -- Judge Aikens again stands by earlier ruling. Dalvin recording not going to be entered.
1:40 p.m. -- Jury coming in. Next witness is the girl who was with the accuser on the night of the altercation.
1:50 p.m. -- Sorry. We reached our maximum length on that other thread. ...
The victims friend is recalling a lot of the same details that the accuser said. She admitted that she was “drunk” from drinking tequila sunrises at the bar.
She said Dalvin is definitely the one who punched her friend. She says she was standing behind him but saw it. She said she also was hit in the side of the head when she tried to separate the fight.
1:52 -- She explains how she followed Travis Rudolph on instagram to see if there were any photos of the person who punched her friend. She found the photo with Dalvin and sent to her friend. State ends direct. Cross coming now.
1:55 -- McCall asking her about being drunk. He said do you agree that sometimes you don't remember things when you're drunk, she disagreed. ... He's now bringing up all the things she said she doesn't remember. Such as number of drinks.
1:57 -- She admits she was so drunk that night that she couldn't write a statement for police. But he asks how we're supposed to believe 60 days later. ... He also points out she was behind Dalvin Cook and talking with someone else when punch was thrown.
2:00 -- State is now doing redirect. They are asking her to look back over her statement from that night. ... She reads the statement and it says "a group" of players hit her friend.
2:02 -- Even though she admits she was drunk that night, she said she has no doubt that Dalvin punched her friend. State excuses her from stand. Next up is a police sergeant who responded to scene.
2:05 -- TPD sergeant says he was working off-duty security at Clyde's that night. It was his car that the accuser saw when they were outside the bar.
2:08 -- He said he saw the group when he was leaving the bar. Didn't seem like a fight when he saw it. Said it looked like typical night ending. Said it didn't seem like a fight. Nothing drew his attention that it needed him there.
2:10 -- He went back inside to get paid by manager for work. Was inside for 5 minutes. When he came back out, he saw the accuser and her friend. He said the girl had a "busted, bloody" lip and said a guy hit her. She was already on phone with 911. He said he turned it over to the officer who arrived from the 911 call. State is done. Cross is next.
2:13 -- Defense attorney is pointing out that the officer never wrote a report or filed any paperwork on this incident. That he wasn't the investigating officer. Sergeant agrees. ... On redirect, prosecutor just gets him to reiterate that he saw bloody lip. The sergeant is dismissed.
2:14 -- Next witness is officer Smidt from TPD. He was the patrol officer who was called to scene.
2:16 -- Says the accuser was "visibly upset" and had a bloody lip and dirt on knee. He said they appeared to be intoxicated. Called the friend "very intoxicated" and the accuser "not as intoxicated." He took the photos they showed earlier.
2:19 -- Prosecutor asking officer to look at sworn written statements from accuser and her friend. He asks her to note the handwriting, that the accuser's is neat and clear and the friend's is sloppy and not clear.
2:21 -- He said he showed the girls a roster with photos from Seminoles.com site of the football team, on his tablet.. The only one they identified was Travis but said he wasn't the one who hit her.. State ends direct. Cross is next.
2:24 -- Defense attorney seems to be attacking Smidt's investigation. Pointing out that he didn't mention the Seminoles.com lineup in his report. He also never interviewed the sergeant from Clyde's about whether he saw anything. Now he's asking about discrepancy in group of players or one player who hit her.
2:26 -- Defense pointing out that no EMT or officer medically examined the victim despite her claim she was punched several times. Officer agrees.
2:29 -- Defense pointing out that accuser's friend never mentioned to police that night that she was hit as well. Officer agrees.
2:30 -- Officer asked if her injuries were consistent with being punched by a 215-pound football player. "To me it did not look like she got hit in the face." Defense attorney stops questioning.
On redirect, the prosecutor brings back picture of bloody lip and says does that look like someone who got hit in the face? He says yes. Officer Smidt is done. That was pretty dramatic stuff. Next up is investigator Federico.
2:35 -- Officer Federico says he was assigned the case for the followup investigation.
2:37 -- Prosecutor asks if it's common for victims to not want to press charges. He says it's "very." Lot of different reasons people don't want to go through with trial, etc. ... He confirms that accuser was reluctant. He asked her to take a couple days to think about it. When he called back, she said she wanted to proceed with investigation. She still hadn't identified Cook at this point.
2:40 -- Says he looked all around area trying to get videotape of incident. There was none at any of the surrounding businesses or the traffic lights. Said he also couldn't locate any employees in area who saw the incident.
Said the accuser called him one day after saying she wanted to proceed with case and told him she knows who it is -- that it's Dalvin Cook.
2:43 -- He said he put together a 6-photo lineup to show the accuser. It was Cook and 5 other black men with similar hair. And the accuser picked Cook out. She told him she was 100 percent certain.
2:45 -- He said he interviewed Dalvin Cook the next day. Went to Champions Hall and knocked on his door. Cook wasn't there. But another person called him and set up meeting. Dalvin went and met him. ... Cook told the officer he didn't remember getting into a fight. Also couldn't remember if he had been drinking, but was sure he wasn't intoxicated.
2:50 -- He said he told Cook he was accused of hitting the woman. Cook said he remembered an argument but didn't hit the girl. "I don't recall that." And then the officer asked if it didn't happen or he just didn't recall, he said "it didn't happen."
2:53 -- Judge is now talking with the attorneys in a sidebar. State asked the investigator about the audio recording with Dalvin, and the defense asked to approach the bench. ... now the jury is being asked to leave. 15-minute recess.
3:10 -- We're back in session. And the attorneys have rejoined the judge in sidebar without the jury present.
3:22 -- Finally out of sidebar. Jury back in.
3:23 -- Ms. Dugan is interviewing investigator Federico again. But not mentioning the audio recording. Guessing she was told not to.
3:25 -- Federico said he interviewed Travis Rudolph and that he recorded it. State wants to introduce audio as evidence. Defense objects. Judge sustains objection.
Federico then interviewed Deondre Francois. He said that interview was not recorded.
3:27 -- Next wanted to talk to Da'Vante Phillips. Interviewed him about 3 weeks after others. That interview was recorded. ... When asked by Dugan, investigator says all 4 players gave "inconsistent" statements about the night. State stops direct.
3:30 -- Cross is going after Federico's investigation. Pointing out that it's all based on what witnesses/accuser said ... not actual observation or other evidence.
3:32 -- McCall pointing out that there were "inconsistencies" in accuser's and friend's statements too. Federico agreed.
3:35 -- McCall pointing out that Federico also never interviewed the off-duty officer. And that no officer actually saw anything in the incident. That they're all relying on accuser and friend's statements. Cross is done. Redirect begins from state.
3:38 -- Dugan asking Federico to classify the size of the "inconsistencies" between the accuser/friend vs. the football players. He's saying the inconsistencies from the players were big inconsistencies because they didn't all agree on who was even there that night.
3:41 -- Federico says the accuser's friend did tell him later during the investigation that she was hit in the back of the head. She's done.
Next witness is FSU receiver Travis Rudolph.
3:43 Rudolph says he was hanging with Dalvin, Phillips and Francois at their apartment before they went to Clydes. He says they weren't drinking. They were just playing video games (NCAA).
3:45 Rudolph talking about the night. Says they didn't drink at Clyde's. Said he didn't see Dalvin or the other players drink that night.
3:46 -- When he left Clyde's, he said he saw Phillips talking to the accuser. And that Phillips asked if she was there with her boyfriend. That's when the accuser started calling him names and said her mom could buy him. Da'Vante got mad, and Travis pulled her away.
New trial update thread - Go Here
Early Cook trial updates
AFTERNOON TRIAL UPDATES:
NOTE: FSU sent out a release around 1 p.m. noting that practice is now closed to the media. Jimbo Fisher was scheduled to talk to the media after practice but that will not happen now. My guess is that Fisher, Stan Wilcox and possibly president Thrasher want to talk over how they are going to handle Cook's status with the team after the verdict comes in. Fisher might have had a very small window between the verdict and when he had to speak to the media about Cook's status.
1:35 p.m. -- Judge Aikens again stands by earlier ruling. Dalvin recording not going to be entered.
1:40 p.m. -- Jury coming in. Next witness is the girl who was with the accuser on the night of the altercation.
1:50 p.m. -- Sorry. We reached our maximum length on that other thread. ...
The victims friend is recalling a lot of the same details that the accuser said. She admitted that she was “drunk” from drinking tequila sunrises at the bar.
She said Dalvin is definitely the one who punched her friend. She says she was standing behind him but saw it. She said she also was hit in the side of the head when she tried to separate the fight.
1:52 -- She explains how she followed Travis Rudolph on instagram to see if there were any photos of the person who punched her friend. She found the photo with Dalvin and sent to her friend. State ends direct. Cross coming now.
1:55 -- McCall asking her about being drunk. He said do you agree that sometimes you don't remember things when you're drunk, she disagreed. ... He's now bringing up all the things she said she doesn't remember. Such as number of drinks.
1:57 -- She admits she was so drunk that night that she couldn't write a statement for police. But he asks how we're supposed to believe 60 days later. ... He also points out she was behind Dalvin Cook and talking with someone else when punch was thrown.
2:00 -- State is now doing redirect. They are asking her to look back over her statement from that night. ... She reads the statement and it says "a group" of players hit her friend.
2:02 -- Even though she admits she was drunk that night, she said she has no doubt that Dalvin punched her friend. State excuses her from stand. Next up is a police sergeant who responded to scene.
2:05 -- TPD sergeant says he was working off-duty security at Clyde's that night. It was his car that the accuser saw when they were outside the bar.
2:08 -- He said he saw the group when he was leaving the bar. Didn't seem like a fight when he saw it. Said it looked like typical night ending. Said it didn't seem like a fight. Nothing drew his attention that it needed him there.
2:10 -- He went back inside to get paid by manager for work. Was inside for 5 minutes. When he came back out, he saw the accuser and her friend. He said the girl had a "busted, bloody" lip and said a guy hit her. She was already on phone with 911. He said he turned it over to the officer who arrived from the 911 call. State is done. Cross is next.
2:13 -- Defense attorney is pointing out that the officer never wrote a report or filed any paperwork on this incident. That he wasn't the investigating officer. Sergeant agrees. ... On redirect, prosecutor just gets him to reiterate that he saw bloody lip. The sergeant is dismissed.
2:14 -- Next witness is officer Smidt from TPD. He was the patrol officer who was called to scene.
2:16 -- Says the accuser was "visibly upset" and had a bloody lip and dirt on knee. He said they appeared to be intoxicated. Called the friend "very intoxicated" and the accuser "not as intoxicated." He took the photos they showed earlier.
2:19 -- Prosecutor asking officer to look at sworn written statements from accuser and her friend. He asks her to note the handwriting, that the accuser's is neat and clear and the friend's is sloppy and not clear.
2:21 -- He said he showed the girls a roster with photos from Seminoles.com site of the football team, on his tablet.. The only one they identified was Travis but said he wasn't the one who hit her.. State ends direct. Cross is next.
2:24 -- Defense attorney seems to be attacking Smidt's investigation. Pointing out that he didn't mention the Seminoles.com lineup in his report. He also never interviewed the sergeant from Clyde's about whether he saw anything. Now he's asking about discrepancy in group of players or one player who hit her.
2:26 -- Defense pointing out that no EMT or officer medically examined the victim despite her claim she was punched several times. Officer agrees.
2:29 -- Defense pointing out that accuser's friend never mentioned to police that night that she was hit as well. Officer agrees.
2:30 -- Officer asked if her injuries were consistent with being punched by a 215-pound football player. "To me it did not look like she got hit in the face." Defense attorney stops questioning.
On redirect, the prosecutor brings back picture of bloody lip and says does that look like someone who got hit in the face? He says yes. Officer Smidt is done. That was pretty dramatic stuff. Next up is investigator Federico.
2:35 -- Officer Federico says he was assigned the case for the followup investigation.
2:37 -- Prosecutor asks if it's common for victims to not want to press charges. He says it's "very." Lot of different reasons people don't want to go through with trial, etc. ... He confirms that accuser was reluctant. He asked her to take a couple days to think about it. When he called back, she said she wanted to proceed with investigation. She still hadn't identified Cook at this point.
2:40 -- Says he looked all around area trying to get videotape of incident. There was none at any of the surrounding businesses or the traffic lights. Said he also couldn't locate any employees in area who saw the incident.
Said the accuser called him one day after saying she wanted to proceed with case and told him she knows who it is -- that it's Dalvin Cook.
2:43 -- He said he put together a 6-photo lineup to show the accuser. It was Cook and 5 other black men with similar hair. And the accuser picked Cook out. She told him she was 100 percent certain.
2:45 -- He said he interviewed Dalvin Cook the next day. Went to Champions Hall and knocked on his door. Cook wasn't there. But another person called him and set up meeting. Dalvin went and met him. ... Cook told the officer he didn't remember getting into a fight. Also couldn't remember if he had been drinking, but was sure he wasn't intoxicated.
2:50 -- He said he told Cook he was accused of hitting the woman. Cook said he remembered an argument but didn't hit the girl. "I don't recall that." And then the officer asked if it didn't happen or he just didn't recall, he said "it didn't happen."
2:53 -- Judge is now talking with the attorneys in a sidebar. State asked the investigator about the audio recording with Dalvin, and the defense asked to approach the bench. ... now the jury is being asked to leave. 15-minute recess.
3:10 -- We're back in session. And the attorneys have rejoined the judge in sidebar without the jury present.
3:22 -- Finally out of sidebar. Jury back in.
3:23 -- Ms. Dugan is interviewing investigator Federico again. But not mentioning the audio recording. Guessing she was told not to.
3:25 -- Federico said he interviewed Travis Rudolph and that he recorded it. State wants to introduce audio as evidence. Defense objects. Judge sustains objection.
Federico then interviewed Deondre Francois. He said that interview was not recorded.
3:27 -- Next wanted to talk to Da'Vante Phillips. Interviewed him about 3 weeks after others. That interview was recorded. ... When asked by Dugan, investigator says all 4 players gave "inconsistent" statements about the night. State stops direct.
3:30 -- Cross is going after Federico's investigation. Pointing out that it's all based on what witnesses/accuser said ... not actual observation or other evidence.
3:32 -- McCall pointing out that there were "inconsistencies" in accuser's and friend's statements too. Federico agreed.
3:35 -- McCall pointing out that Federico also never interviewed the off-duty officer. And that no officer actually saw anything in the incident. That they're all relying on accuser and friend's statements. Cross is done. Redirect begins from state.
3:38 -- Dugan asking Federico to classify the size of the "inconsistencies" between the accuser/friend vs. the football players. He's saying the inconsistencies from the players were big inconsistencies because they didn't all agree on who was even there that night.
3:41 -- Federico says the accuser's friend did tell him later during the investigation that she was hit in the back of the head. She's done.
Next witness is FSU receiver Travis Rudolph.
3:43 Rudolph says he was hanging with Dalvin, Phillips and Francois at their apartment before they went to Clydes. He says they weren't drinking. They were just playing video games (NCAA).
3:45 Rudolph talking about the night. Says they didn't drink at Clyde's. Said he didn't see Dalvin or the other players drink that night.
3:46 -- When he left Clyde's, he said he saw Phillips talking to the accuser. And that Phillips asked if she was there with her boyfriend. That's when the accuser started calling him names and said her mom could buy him. Da'Vante got mad, and Travis pulled her away.
New trial update thread - Go Here
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