New evidence against FSU’s Dalvin Cook will not be included in trial

Prosecutors will not be able to present new evidence against Florida State running back Dalvin Cook at his Monday trial on a misdemeanor battery charge, a Leon County judge decided Friday.

Cook’s lawyers were granted a motion for sanctions against the State Attorney’s Office in Tallahassee after it tried to introduce screenshots of posts from a fake Twitter account, Cook’s juvenile records and business records as evidence. Those items, submitted in court filings Friday, will not be included in testimony.

Both parties agreed all evidence had been exchanged by Aug. 12, when Cook’s demand for a speedy trial was granted. But Assistant State Attorney Sarah Kathryn Dugan was out of the country for the motion hearing.

Also on Friday, four men and two women were selected to serve as the jury for Cook’s trial. He has been suspended indefinitely from the football team after being accused of hitting a woman outside a Tallahassee bar on June 23.

The state also tried to introduce FSU freshman wide receiver Da’Vante Phillips as a new witness. Cook and Phillips were interviewed at their apartment by Tallahassee Police Department investigators this week. Leon County Judge Augustus D. Aikens, Jr. will determine whether to allow Phillips’ testimony on Monday.

Phillips, FSU sophomore wide receiver Travis Rudolph and freshman quarterback Deondre Francois could testify in the case, Dugan said.

Cook, wearing a blazer over a white shirt and khaki pants, appeared in court alongside his attorneys Joey McCall and Ricky Patel.

“I think we have a great jury,” Dugan said. “I think they’ll be fair and partial in the case to both Mr. Cook and the state, and that’s all we were looking for (Friday).”

Added Patel: “We feel pretty good.”

Tricia Meggs Pate, who works in the Attorney General’s Office and is the daughter of State Attorney Willie Meggs, was among the 14 possible jurors, but was not selected.

During Patel’s time with potential jurors, he presented a hypothetical scenario asking what would be needed to prove a 20-year-old body builder had hit a 5-year-old child multiple times.

Patel also asked jurors to think about scenarios whether they could remember information after a matter of hours, days and even after consuming alcohol.

Both Dugan and Patel emphasized Cook’s case is not the same as the case against former FSU quarterback De’Andre Johnson, who was dismissed from the team on July 6 after video of him punching a woman at a different bar was first published by the Tallahassee Democrat.

“Everyone thinks Dalvin Cook has a video of him punching someone in the club unless you actually research this,” Patel said afterwards. “It’s very difficult. We did our very best to make sure we differentiate, spending quite a bit of time making sure they understood this is completely different.

“So hopefully, they go in there open-minded and get this image of this video out of their head.”

Both sides also emphasized there is no surveillance footage of Cook’s incident.

“We have exhausted everything,” Patel said. “If there was video of this, I think this would’ve been taken care of a long time ago.”

FSU will open its 2015 football season against Texas State inside Doak Campbell Stadium on Sept. 5.

Cook’s attorneys have said the trial could be over after its first day. Both Dugan and Judge Aikens said Friday they expect the trial to be done by Tuesday night.