Attorney expects Julian Rochester and Chad Clay’s case to reach resolution ‘very soon’

It’s possible Georgia freshman football players Julian Rochester and Chad Clay could soon see a resolution in their case for felony possession of a weapon in a school zone and criminal damage to property.

Rochester and Clay’s attorney, Kim Stephens, said he’s expecting an agreement with the Athens-Clarke County district attorney’s office to happen “very soon.” Stephens’ hope is that Rochester and Clay enter a pre-trial diversionary program, which would result in the “dismissal, restriction or expungement” of the charges levied against them from their record, upon completion.

If they are entered into a pre-trial diversionary program, it’s likely to last 18 months. Included punishment would be community service requirements and a fee for the two players to pay.

“The majority of time is strictly staying out of trouble,” Stephens said.

Athens-Clarke County district attorney Ken Mauldin said a final determination has not been made regarding Rochester and Clay’s legal standing.

“I can’t speak to that now, to be honest with you,” Mauldin said. “My assistants are handling that. I don’t know if we’ve finalized anything at this time.”

Rochester and Clay were booked by University of Georgia police in the early morning of April 12 following their arrest. An investigation began after a structural maintenance foreman noticed a BB gun in the two players’ shared dorm room while he helped fixed a plumbing issue on April 7.

The foreman reported what he saw to campus police, which was corroborated by two witnesses. A search of the dorm was conducted with police finding the BB gun, which is prohibited from campus by state law. Also found were BB-sized dents to the dorm’s walls, as well as BBs in the dormitory’s hallway. Damage estimated in the area of $835-1,035 was done, according to the police report.

At the time of their arrests, head coach Kirby Smart expressed dismay in Rochester and Clay, who both enrolled early at Georgia in January.

“I’m disappointed with the poor judgment of Julian and Chad,” Smart said. “We expect full compliance with the policies of the University and of our football program from all our student-athletes. Information is still being gathered but they will be disciplined in an appropriate manner.”

As far as any suspensions to the two players, that remains to be seen. Speaking at the SEC spring meetings last week, Smart stayed mum on whether the two would serve a suspension or not, saying, “We’ll see about the first game.”

Also facing disciplinary action at the moment are defensive lineman Jonathan Ledbetter, who had his underage possession of alcohol and possession of a false ID case recently thrown out, and cornerback Juwuan Briscoe, who was arrested in late April for driving without a valid license.

Georgia begins its season Sept. 3 against North Carolina at the Georgia Dome.

“Each one of those kids is serving their punishment and doing what they’ve got to do in order to be where we want them to be, which is out there in the fall,” Smart said.

This story was originally published June 9, 2016 at 12:03 PM with the headline "Attorney expects Julian Rochester and Chad Clay’s case to reach resolution ‘very soon’."