Click Here to view this Link.

Click Here to view this Link.

Click Here to view this Link.

With Florida State football players De'Andre Johnson and Dalvin Cook being charged with similar offenses in recent weeks, Warchant.com managing editor Ira Schoffel spoke at length Monday with Tallahassee defense attorney Chuck Hobbs about the legal options available to each young man and other aspects of the high-profile cases.

Johnson, who was dismissed from the FSU team last week, and Cook, who was arrested on Friday and has been suspended indefinitely, both face misdemeanor battery charges after allegedly punching women in separate incidents.

During this interview, Hobbs draws upon his 15 years as a defense attorney, his early years working as a prosecutor in state attorney Willie Meggs' office, his knowledge of Florida State athletics (he once represented former Seminole Adrian McPherson), as well as his experience providing social commentary for various newspapers, web sites and television programs.

Hobbs was born in Tallahassee, received his undergraduate degree from Morehouse, his master's degree in social science from Florida A&M and his law degree from the University of Florida.

Here is a transcript of that conversation (some answers were edited for brevity).

A: Generally speaking, misdemeanor cases are usually handled within a 90-day window. There are obviously times where that window can be extended, and that can happen for any number of reasons. … But usually, there are one or two resolutions that happen more than anything else when it comes to a misdemeanor battery - they either plead out in court and usually have some kind of minor sanction … and by minor sanction I mean that very rarely do you see, particularly on a first offense, any college student, or anybody else for that matter, doing any serious time on a battery charge. You just don't. Usually it's work camp for 10 or 20 days and some community service. To result in real jail time, it would usually have to be a situation with a repeat offender where it's their second crack at it - then you might have the state attorney trying to give 15 to 30 days in the county jail. But you're still not talking about a long stretch.

The typical plea deal would call for one year of probation and completion of the batterer's intervention program, which takes about six months per Florida law. That program usually involves a weekly session where people go through any number of exercises and lessons to try to get them to make better decisions and get them to understand what the harm is of fighting or putting your hands on somebody else. On top of that, there's usually community service or work camp, pay your court costs and fines, and then you can go on down the road.

A: If he ultimately pleads, I would not be surprised if that case is wrapped up before two-a-days. If two-a-days are the first or second week of August, I would be shocked if it went beyond that because he's only charged with a misdemeanor, and those cases generally plea out very quickly. Plea offers generally are given out at arraignment, and that usually occurs within two to three weeks of the arrest (Cook's arraignment reportedly will be July 30). That's what would happen if this was ordinary. Now what could make this different is the high-profile nature of it. So I will be very anxious to see whether or not he is treated ordinarily. If he is, then that case should be worked out by the end of July. He should be able to go ahead and put his life back together.

Of course, what's interesting about that is I know I read in your article and in subsequent articles that Florida State has a policy where if you have a felony [charge] that you can't play unless the case is wrapped up. Well, this is only a misdemeanor. I have never known Florida State to withhold playing time from athletes who were charged only with misdemeanors. However, things could be different because of Ray Rice, because of the Ray McDonald situation, because of Greg Hardy and all of these high-profile NFL athletes who have been charged in domestic violence situations … not to mention the fact that Florida State has received what I think is an unfair amount of criticism from people in the national media. I think what goes on at Florida State is what goes on at my alma mater, the University of Florida, or any of the other major colleges in terms of athletes who run afoul of the law. I think the New York Times article from last year and several others have been slanted against Florida State. … Having worked with Mr. Meggs from '98 to late 2000, I have never felt that Mr. Meggs has shown favoritism to athletes at Florida State.

What will be interesting to see in this situation is if the reverse is true. Is he going to push harder against Dalvin because he's a high-profile athlete? I am anxiously waiting to see if that happens. Because my personal opinion even back in '99, when Laveranues Coles and Peter Warrick went through their situation (Coles and Warrick received more than $400 in clothing at a Tallahassee Dillard's for about $20), I remember thinking to myself that those cases could have been wrapped up much quicker based upon what typically used to happen. They were charged with felonies because of the total amount, but I remember thinking back then that had that been a regular college student that those cases could have been wrapped up much quicker. So I look forward to seeing whether Dalvin will be treated like any other college student, because if he is, the case should be done before fall camp.

Now, if he gets an offer that is not standard - and my gut tells me that is what is going to happen - that his initial offer is not going to be a typical misdemeanor offer. Then he might be pressed to go to trial on it. It's almost like an old standoff. Where Mr. Meggs' office has taken a definitive stand against domestic violence and said, "We're not just going to give you a slap on the wrist on this because this woman says she was hit multiple times." And Mr. Meggs could draw a line in the stand and say, "This is the best I'm gonna do." Then Dalvin and his lawyer will have to fight it out and that could drag into October.

Now, they could file a speedy trial demand and actually get it done in August. If the lawyers say this is an unreasonable offer and if Dalvin takes it, they're making him jump through hoops in a way that they don't with typical defendants who are charged with these types of offenses, they could drop a speedy trial demand and he could see that case tried within 45 days. But if it goes to regular court, a trial would probably happen in late September to the middle of October, just knowing how the court system is kind of clogged up.

Q: But this is where I think it gets tricky. Even if Dalvin is offered a normal plea deal, given the circumstances you just mentioned with Ray Rice and so-on, could that even be an option for him to accept it? Wouldn't he have to admit some responsibility, which would lead people to believe that he did in fact punch a woman?

A: That's a great question. From what I've read so far, it seems as if Dalvin is saying, "I don't know the woman, I didn't touch her and I don't know what you're talking about." So it could be a situation where he defends himself from that aspect, which is, "She picked out the wrong one. There were a number of us out there that night. I'm not necessarily going to say who it was, but it wasn't me." If that happens, truth be told, his case could drag into the fall. I still would anticipate it being tried within 90 to 120 days, but it could be a situation where it's September or October before you actually get a trial. And that would put him in another interesting situation - if it goes into October and let's assume he wins, you're probably four or five games into the season and then you have to decide, "OK, do we let him back in and reinstate him right now?" Or do you do what I would call the Randy Moss rule, where you say, "OK, we're going to redshirt you this year regardless of what the outcome is and then you just come back next year and play." But there are a lot of different factors that could come into play on that.

A: Actually, I think it's about the same as it ever was. I think that because of social media and smart phones ... now you're seeing videos turning up on TMZ or Worldstar Hip Hop. That's one of the things that I think helps Cook in his case - it's not a slam dunk - but what is helpful for him is I have not heard of any video tape that has surfaced yet. Whereas in Johnson's case, it's a little bit more difficult. Because if he were going to go to trial, the jury is going to look at that tape and it probably is going to be the best evidence the prosecution would have. If for no other reason that it's a man on a woman and the blow just did not look good.

A: Oh no, not at all. It will really come down to what the independent witnesses are going to say. I read where there was a gentleman there who said he tried to step between the women and the athletes. He will probably be one of the most pivotal witnesses in this case. Because with this case, there is the whole issue of identification - particularly with cross-racial identification. There are so many treatises out that suggest that when you have only a limited exposure to an individual - don't know them prior and they are of a different race from you - that it's very difficult for any of us to definitively pick out which African-American or which Caucasian or which Latino is the person who actually struck the blow, particularly when you're dealing with a large group. That's why this other witness will be extremely crucial.

A: I have seen, both from my time being a prosecutor in Mr. Meggs' office and also working for the defense, times when the police or prosecutors will charge a victim also because it was a situation where maybe you had two guys who were talking trash on the weekend and got into a fight. In that case, you've got what you would call a mutual combat situation. That usually puts the prosecutor in a very interesting dilemma. ... When I was a prosecutor, I have dismissed cases in those instances where it's like, "All right, I've got all the facts. I've talked to all the witnesses. They saw everything go down, and what you had was two guys fighting or two girls fighting." Very rarely when I prosecuted did you see mutual combat when it was a man and a woman that were both charged.

So I've found it kind of interesting when I've read some of the social media comments and the comments sections for news sites, where people have said, "Well, she should have been charged too." And in my brain, I can see the logic behind people saying that, particularly if they saw the video. But let's face it - we still are dealing in a culture where unless it was something really egregious, I would have been shocked to see Mr. Meggs' office charge that young woman. Even with me looking at the videotape - and I must have looked at it about 50 times - because I'm always blogging and running off at the typewriter, and I want to make sure that I have my facts right. But it looked to me like the initial contact was made by De'Andre, simply trying to get the bartender's attention. It looks like there might have been a misunderstanding, but the initial aggression from my vantage point seems to be from him. Clearly, she definitely at some point in time took a swing at him and what have you … but long story short, I am not surprised the young woman was not charged.

Again, in the end, I don't think De'Andre is going to face any jail time. It more than likely is going to get worked out and should get worked out fairly quickly. I would be very shocked if his case lasted past August or September because these are very routine. And I think in the end he's going to be OK. Dalvin's case is going to be the one that is very interesting.