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DeAndre Baker is in a lot of trouble and is facing an uncertain future, to say the least. His NFL career is obviously hanging by a thread. His freedom is in serious jeopardy, too.

The announcement by the Miramar (Fla.) Police Department on Thursday that they had issued an arrest warrant for the Giants cornerback was just the beginning of what could be a long and painful process for the 22-year-old former first-round pick.

Here, with the help of some legal and NFL sources, is a look at what Baker is facing and what comes next:

 

 

What are the charges?

 Baker, according to the arrest warrant issued on Thursday night, is going to be charged with four counts of armed robbery and four counts of aggravated assault with a firearm. With the help of Seattle Seahawks cornerback Quinton Dunbar and an unnamed, masked accomplice, Baker is accused of robbing four men of a total of $12,400 in cash and $61,000 worth of watches. The warrant said he used a semi-automatic weapon in the robberies. One witness said he also told the unnamed accomplice to shoot the victims (though the warrant does not mention any shots being fired or any injuries to the victims).

What is the legal penalty?

According to Florida’s “10-20-Life” law, each count of armed robbery carries a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, but that is escalated to 15 years if a “semi-automatic weapon” is involved, which is alleged here. So that would be a minimum of 60 years just on those counts. The counts of aggravated assault with a firearm has no mandatory minimum, just a maximum sentence of five years in prison per count.

So if he’s guilty, he’s going to jail for a long time then? Not necessarily. One Florida-based attorney told SNY that a prosecutor has the ability to waive the mandatory minimum and seek a lesser sentence. There is, of course, always the possibility of pleading down to a lesser charge.

When he turns himself in, will he be released on bail?

Not necessarily, but probably — eventually. All eight counts are listed on the warrant as “no bond hold,” which means Baker can’t simply show up, pay his bail, and head back to the Giants’ virtual offseason program. When he is arrested, he will be held by the Miramar Police Department until he can appear before Circuit County Court Judge Carlos Rebollo, the Broward County judge who signed the arrest warrant. Judge Rebollo will then hold a bond hearing and set bail, if he chooses. It’s not clear, though, when that hearing will take place and if there will be any delay related to the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Why hasn’t he turned himself in yet?

Good question, and of course he should have done so already. According to a Miramar Police Department spokesman, they have been in touch with his lawyer. One source said there was an expectation that Baker would turn himself in on Friday. One legal source said the lawyer is likely negotiating the terms of Baker turning himself in – everything from doing it quietly, away from the media, and an expedited bail hearing, if possible.

In the meantime, what are the Giants going to do with him? Probably nothing at the moment. So far they are following the standard playbook for dealing with arrests. They issued a statement that said nothing and then they closed ranks. If they continue to follow that, they will wait for the legal process to play itself out and let the NFL take the lead on any investigation and discipline. There may come a point when they’ll have to decide whether to keep him or cut him, but that’s likely a long ways away.

Would they cut him?

Maybe eventually, especially if the details get out and are even uglier than what is known so far. Obviously, the Giants don’t want to dump a talented young player, especially a year after they traded into the first round to draft him. But they might eventually feel they have no choice. It just probably won’t happen until the legal system runs its course and the NFL takes the initial shot at discipline.

What are the cap ramifications of cutting him?

Baker is entering the second year of a $10.5 million rookie contract. He already got a $5.67 million signing bonus and he’s due $973,442 in salary this season, all of which is guaranteed. At minimum, cutting Baker would cost the Giants an extra $2.3 million against the cap this season, and he’d leave a lot of dead money on their books over the next two years. However, they’d likely try to negotiate all that down and possibly try to recoup some of his signing bonus.

Video: FNNY: Breaking down Baker, what to do with DeAndre?

What is the NFL going to do?

At the very least, it seems certain that the NFL will place Baker on the “Commissioner’s exempt list,” which is basically paid leave and it’s used to prevent players accused of violent crimes from being active while their cases are pending. It also conveniently takes such decisions out of teams’ hands. Baker eventually would be subject to discipline under the NFL’s Personal Conduct policy, even if he pleads down to a lesser charge or if charges are dropped. Under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, that would be decided by a neutral third party jointly appointed by the NFL and NFL Players Association. Commissioner Roger Goodell is no longer the judge and jury for that.

Has Baker said anything yet?

No. Multiple calls to his agent were not returned to SNY either. And it’s not clear at this point which lawyer is representing him. You can bet that lawyer will issue some kind of statement after Baker’s arrest.

Have the Giants said anything yet?

Just a bland statement through their PR department that said “We are aware of the situation. We have been in contact with DeAndre. We have no further comment at this time.”

Should they say anything more?

They are probably right not to say anything now, since we likely don’t have anywhere near all the facts yet. But eventually, yes, they need to say something. And they all do – John Mara, Dave Gettleman and Joe Judge.

Hopefully they learned something from how they mishandled the Josh Brown affair – when they re-signed their kicker despite a domestic violence arrest, only to cut him once the media unearthed all the sordid details. They let Ben McAdoo, their young coach, take the lead publicly and he ended up praising Brown’s character though he clearly didn’t know all the details of what happened. Then, when the details came out, Mara and then-GM Jerry Reese refused to say anything for more than a week.

Now’s not the time, but they can’t wait forever. If they decide to stand by a player who is accused of using a gun to rob people and ordering the victims to be shot, they owe it to everyone to explain why. Hiding behind statements will make them look terrible, again.

The bottom line

Will Baker ever play for the Giants again? It’s hard to predict, and he is of course innocent until proven guilty. But if the accusations in that warrant hold up – and there are multiple witnesses, including someone who has known Baker since he was a child – it’s hard to imagine that he will, even if he escapes jail time. Sports teams are often tolerant of criminal behavior – especially for players with talent — and the Giants have been no exception over the years. It’s certainly possible that, if he’s granted his freedom, they’d welcome him back and sell it as a chance for redemption. But you’d have to think that some of these allegations cross a line they just won’t want to cross, even for a player with Baker’s potential.

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Georgia’s attorney general appointed a black district attorney from the Atlanta area Monday to take over the case of a white father and son charged with killing a black man, making her the third outside prosecutor in a slaying that’s prompted a national outcry over suspicions that race played a role in delaying arrests.

Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was fatally shot Feb. 23 by the men who told police they chased him because they believed he matched the appearance of a burglary suspect caught on surveillance video. Gregory McMichael and his son, Travis McMichael, were arrested last week, more than two months later, after video of the shooting appeared online and provoked outrage. Federal prosecutors are also considering hate crimes charges, the Justice Department said; that would allow for a separate case in federal court.

Cobb County District Attorney Joyette M. Holmes takes over the case from prosecutor Tom Durden, who the state’s attorney general said asked to be replaced by a prosecutor with a large staff as “this case has grown in size and magnitude.” Holmes is based in metro Atlanta, more than 300 miles (480 kilometers) from the coastal Georgia community in Glynn County where the shooting happened.

“District Attorney Holmes is a respected attorney with experience, both as a lawyer and a judge,” state Attorney General Chris Carr, a Republican, said in a statement. “And the Cobb County District Attorney’s office has the resources, personnel and experience to lead this prosecution and ensure justice is done.”

Holmes served four years a magistrate judge in suburban Cobb County before Gov. Brian Kemp appointed her to fill the vacant district attorney’s position last July. According to the Georgia Prosecuting Attorneys Council, Holmes is one of only seven black district attorneys in the state.

An attorney for Arbery’s father, Marcus Arbery, applauded the appointment of a new lead prosecutor.

“In order for justice to be carried out both effectively and appropriately in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, it is imperative that the special prosecutor has no affiliation with the Southeast Georgia legal or law enforcement communities,” attorney Benjamin Crump said in a statement. He asked that Holmes “be zealous in her search for justice.”

Arbery was hit by three shotgun blasts, according to an autopsy report released Monday by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. One shot grazed his right wrist, and the other two struck him in the chest. Blood tests for various drugs and alcohol all came back negative.

Many have expressed frustration with the investigation, questioning whether the arrests took so long because the suspects are white and the victim black. The killing happened in a subdivision bordered by marsh just outside Brunswick, a working-class port city of about 16,000 that also serves as a gateway to beach resorts on neighboring islands.

The McMichaels weren’t arrested until after the video became public and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was asked to look into the killing. Gregory McMichael, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34, have been jailed since Thursday on charges of felony murder and aggravated assault.

With courts largely closed because of the coronavirus, getting an indictment needed to try the men on murder charges will take a while longer still. The soonest a grand jury can convene to hear the case will be mid-June.

It was not known Monday whether the McMichaels had attorneys to represent them. They had no lawyers at their first court appearance Friday.

Gregory McMichael is a former Glynn County police officer who later worked 20 years as an investigator for the local district attorney’s office. He retired a year ago.

Glynn County District Attorney Jackie Johnson recused herself from the case because the elder McMichael had worked under her. The first outside prosecutor appointed, District Attorney George Barnhill of the neighboring Waycross Judicial Circuit, stepped aside about a month later because his son works for Johnson as an assistant prosecutor. Durden got the case in mid-April.

Attorneys for Arbery’s parents and others, including Carr and the Southern Poverty Law Center, have asked for a federal investigation to weigh whether hate crimes charges should be brought. Georgia has no hate crime law allowing state charges.

At the White House, President Donald Trump said Monday he’s following the case “very closely” and that Arbery “looks like a wonderful young guy.”

“Certainly the video, it was a terrible looking video to me,” Trump said. “But you have a lot of people looking at it and hopefully an answer’s going to be arrived at very quickly.”

Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said in a statement: “We are assessing all of the evidence to determine whether federal hate crimes charges are appropriate.”

She said the department is also considering Carr’s request for federal authorities to investigate how local police and prosecutors handled the case. She said Carr has been asked to “forward to federal authorities any information that he has.”

The father and son told police they thought Arbery matched the appearance of a burglary suspect who they said had been recorded on a surveillance camera some time before, according to the Glynn County police report filed after the shooting.

Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, has said she thinks her son, a former high school football player, was just jogging in the neighborhood before he was killed.

The leaked video shows a black man running at a jogging pace. A truck is stopped in the road ahead of him, with one white man standing in the pickup’s bed and another beside the open driver’s side door.

The running man attempts to pass the pickup on the passenger side, moving briefly outside the camera’s view. A gunshot sounds, and the video shows the running man grappling with a man over what appears to be a shotgun or rifle. A second shot can be heard, and the running man can be seen punching the other man. A third shot is fired at point-blank range. The running man staggers a few feet and falls face down.

A man who says he recorded the cellphone video of the shooting said he’s received death threats.

William R. Bryan is identified as a witness in the police report taken after Arbery’s shooting. He has not been charged.

“I had nothing to do with it,” Bryan told WJAX-TV in an interview that aired Monday. “I was told I was a witness and I’m not sure what I am, other than receiving a bunch of threats.”

Copyright © 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

SAVANNAH, Ga. – The Justice Department said Monday that federal prosecutors are weighing possible hate crime charges in the slaying of Ahmaud Arbery, a black man gunned down after being pursued by two armed white men in a Georgia subdivision.

Arbery was fatally shot Feb. 23 by a father and son who told police they chased him because they believed he was a burglar. They were arrested last week, more than two months later, on charges of felony murder and aggravated assault after video of the shooting appeared online.

Attorneys for Arbery’s parents and others, including Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and the Southern Poverty Law Center, have asked for a federal investigation. Georgia has no hate crime law allowing charges at the state level.

RELATED: Special prosecutor appointed in Ahmaud Arbery case

“We are assessing all of the evidence to determine whether federal hate crimes charges are appropriate,” Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said in a statement Monday.

Previously, a Justice Department spokesman had said the FBI is assisting in the investigation and the department would assist if a federal crime is uncovered.

Kupec’s statement Monday also said the Justice Department was considering Carr’s request for federal authorities to investigate how local police and prosecutors handled the case. She said Carr has been asked to “forward to federal authorities any information that he has.”

Gregory McMichael, 64, and his 34-year-old son, Travis McMichael, are jailed on charges of felony murder and aggravated assault in Arbery’s slaying. Gregory McMichael is a former Glynn County police officer who later worked 20 years as an investigator for the local district attorney’s office. He retired a year ago.

The father and son told police they thought Arbery matched the appearance of a burglary suspect who they said had been recorded on a surveillance camera some time before, according to the Glynn County police report filed after the shooting.

Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, has said she thinks her 25-year-old son, a former high school football player, was just jogging in the neighborhood before he was killed.

Meanwhile, a man identifying himself as the person who recorded the cellphone video of the shooting said he’s received death threats.

RELATED: Man who recorded the Ahmaud Arbery shooting has been receiving threats, attorney says | What we know about the deadly shooting of Ahmaud Arbery

William “Roddie” Bryan is identified as a witness in the police report taken after Arbery’s shooting. He appears to be mentioned in a single sentence of the report, which says Gregory McMichael told an officer that “‘Roddy’ attempted to block (Arbery) which was unsuccessful.”

Bryan has not been charged in the case.

Outside prosecutors were appointed to handle the case. But the McMichaels weren’t arrested until last week. After video of the shooting leaked online Tuesday, the lead prosecutor on the case asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to look into the shooting. The McMichaels were arrested Thursday.

It was not known Monday whether the McMichaels had attorneys to represent them. They had no lawyers at their first court appearance Friday.

The leaked video shows a black man running at a jogging pace. The truck is stopped in the road ahead of him, with one of the white men standing in the pickup’s bed and the other beside the open driver’s side door.

The running man attempts to pass the pickup on the passenger side, moving just beyond the truck, briefly outside the camera’s view. A gunshot sounds, and the video shows the running man grappling with a man over what appears to be a shotgun or rifle. A second shot can be heard, and the running man can be seen punching the other man. A third shot is fired at point-blank range. The running man staggers a few feet and falls face down.

By RUSS BYNUM Associated Press

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — The Justice Department said Monday that federal prosecutors are weighing possible hate crime charges in the slaying of Ahmaud Arbery, a black man gunned down after being pursued by two armed white men in a Georgia subdivision.

Arbery was fatally shot Feb. 23 by a father and son who told police they chased him because they believed he was a burglar. They were arrested last week, more than two months later, on charges of felony murder and aggravated assault after video of the shooting appeared online.

Attorneys for Arbery’s parents and others, including Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and the Southern Poverty Law Center, have asked for a federal investigation. Georgia has no hate crime law allowing charges at the state level.

“We are assessing all of the evidence to determine whether federal hate crimes charges are appropriate,” Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said in a statement Monday.

Previously, a Justice Department spokesman had said the FBI is assisting in the investigation and the department would assist if a federal crime is uncovered.

Kupec’s statement Monday also said the Justice Department was considering Carr’s request for federal authorities to investigate how local police and prosecutors handled the case. She said Carr has been asked to “forward to federal authorities any information that he has.”

Gregory McMichael, 64, and his 34-year-old son, Travis McMichael, are jailed on charges of felony murder and aggravated assault in Arbery’s slaying. Gregory McMichael is a former Glynn County police officer who later worked 20 years as an investigator for the local district attorney’s office. He retired a year ago.

The father and son told police they thought Arbery matched the appearance of a burglary suspect who they said had been recorded on a surveillance camera some time before, according to the Glynn County police report filed after the shooting.

Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, has said she thinks her 25-year-old son, a former high school football player, was just jogging in the neighborhood before he was killed.

Meanwhile, a man identifying himself as the person who recorded the cellphone video of the shooting said he’s received death threats.

William “Roddie” Bryan is identified as a witness in the police report taken after Arbery’s shooting. He appears to be mentioned in a single sentence of the report, which says Gregory McMichael told an officer that “‘Roddy’ attempted to block (Arbery) which was unsuccessful.”

“I had nothing to do with it. I’m trying to get my life back to normal, and it’s been smeared for the last week,” Bryan told WJAX-TV in an interview that aired Monday. “I was told I was a witness and I’m not sure what I am, other than receiving a bunch of threats.”

Bryan has not been charged in the case. The TV station reported Bryan would not discuss his involvement in the events that led to Arbery’s death.

Outside prosecutors were appointed to handle the case. But the McMichaels weren’t arrested until last week. After video of the shooting leaked online Tuesday, the lead prosecutor on the case asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to look into the shooting. The McMichaels were arrested Thursday.

It was not known Monday whether the McMichaels had attorneys to represent them. They had no lawyers at their first court appearance Friday.

The leaked video shows a black man running at a jogging pace. The truck is stopped in the road ahead of him, with one of the white men standing in the pickup’s bed and the other beside the open driver’s side door.

The running man attempts to pass the pickup on the passenger side, moving just beyond the truck, briefly outside the camera’s view. A gunshot sounds, and the video shows the running man grappling with a man over what appears to be a shotgun or rifle. A second shot can be heard, and the running man can be seen punching the other man. A third shot is fired at point-blank range. The running man staggers a few feet and falls face down.