A judge in Tallahassee approved the motion for an earlier court date filed by attorneys representing Dalvin Cook, a running back on the Florida State football team.
The trial for Cook, who is currently suspended from the team indefinitely, is now slated to begin on Monday, Aug. 24, ESPN reported.
Cook was charged with misdemeanor battery for allegedly punching a female multiple times outside a local bar on July 11. This incident came one night before DeAndre Johnson, now a former Florida State quarterback, was caught on surveillance camera striking a woman at the counter of a different bar.
Cook and Johnson were both suspended indefinitely, but the latter was dismissed when the video became public. Cook's status with the team depends on the outcome of the court case, Florida State head football coach Jimbo Fisher told ESPN.
The trial was originally to begin on Sept. 2, just three days before Florida State's first football game this season. Cook is entering his sophomore season and figured to be on the primary running backs in Fisher's offense.
The alleged assault took place early in the morning on July 11 and Cook turned himself in later in the day, ESPN reported at the time. The alleged victim claimed other Florida State football players were trying to get hers and her friend's phone numbers, but they were not going to do so.
She told ESPN the exchange became heated, at which point Cook stepped in and hit her several times. A few days later, an attorney from Miami representing Cook, Ricky Patel, told ESPN outright his client "did not strike this woman."
Willie Meggs, the State Attorney in Tallahassee, told ESPN shortly after the incident occurred that he decided to charge Cook after speaking with him and the alleged victim. He said he found her and her companion to be "very credible" as witnesses.
