TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida State University football head coach Jimbo Fisher has dismissed quarterback De'Andre Johnson from the team following the release of video showing Johnson punching a woman in the face.
The video was released by the Tallahassee Police Department Monday, and comes just a week after Johnson turned himself in on misdemeanor battery charges in connection with the incident in late June.
[RAW: Surveillance video]
A statement from FSU reads, "Florida State head football coach Jimbo Fisher announced Monday evening that freshman De'Andre Johnson has been dismissed from the football team effective immediately. Johnson was indefinitely suspended on June 25 following initial reports of an incident that occurred off campus and resulted in a criminal charge."
Johnson, 19, was charged with misdemeanor battery from the incident at Yianni's Nightclub on June 24.
Johnson's attorney, Jose Baez, told Local 6 that Johnson's parents are getting involved and that Johnson has started to volunteer at a battered women's shelter in Tallahassee at the order of his parents.
"They have basically called him out and told him 'Look we didn't raise you this way. And you need to try to learn from this experience,'" Baez said. "We teach our young adults that there's a certain way to behave. And unfortunately sometimes they don't always put themselves in the right position in life."
According to Timothy Simmons, former vice principal of the high school Johnson attended, during his time at the school, Johnson was a good student.
"Johnson is a good young man, strong young man (with) academic focus. He never had any discipline issues while at First Coast, when I was there. I remember him being a young man with good integrity and good character. He really just wanted to do all he could academically to graduate early, but he ended up staying his full four years at First Coast. Good young man," Simmons said.
He was voted "Mr. Football" in Florida last year.
Johnson turned himself in to the Leon County Jail on June 30 after a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was released on $500 bond.
He was suspended indefinitely from the Florida State University football team following the incident.
"As a quarterback you have to be the face of the franchise and you want it to be a positive one. He's clearly focused on improving right now," Baez said.
According to a domestic violence expert, even with video of the incident, it is impossible to tell whether Johnson was violent by nature.
"I can't really make that correlation, but it does concern me any time somebody reacts out violently to another person and doesn't really care who might be watching and what ramifications there might be," Ellen Siler said.
The website TMZ reported that Johnson's family said the woman should be considered at fault because they said she struck first.
Attorney Gene Nichols, who is not affiliated with the case, said that in the eyes of the law, it doesn't matter if it's a woman or man who strikes first, but he said in this case, Johnson will struggle with that defense because he said it appears that Johnson started it.
"They have not charged the young lady with a crime, mainly because I'm sure in their read of the video, there was a time period when he grabs her and you can clearly see on her face that it was the grabbing that she did not want to happen," Nichols said.