FSU WR Richard Goodman Arrested For Aggravated Battery

Florida State’s list of available receivers continues to dwindle.

Richard Goodman, a senior receiver for the Seminoles, was arrested by Florida State University police Tuesday night and charged with aggravated battery, a felony. He was released on $1,000 bond. The charge, according to a sheriff’s office spokesman, stems from an on-campus fight in November 2008 between members of the football team and members of a fraternity.

Goodman was suspended indefinitely from the team on Wednesday by FSU coach Bobby Bowden.

Trouble also has filtered into the local high school ranks, where star quarterback A.J. Graham, the state’s Mr. Football Award winner who signed with Marshall University last February, was arrested on Tuesday by Tallahassee police on a robbery with firearm charge.

The Seminoles are down to one senior receiver in Louis Givens following Goodman’s arrest. The charge stems from the on-campus fight Nov. 12, 2008 between football players and the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity, then Goodman, 22, becomes the third FSU player to face criminal charges as part of that investigation. Fellow receivers Bert Reed and Cameron Wade faced misdemeanor battery charges from their alleged involvement in that fight.

According to FSU Police Department documents, police believe Goodman is the individual who swung a chair that struck a female in the face during the on-campus fight last November. Goodman’s charge is aggravated battery with a deadly weapon causing great bodily harm. That’s a second degree felony.

The FSU Police Department had been investigating the fight for six months, trying to establish the identity of the individual who used a chair to assault a female. The case received its break on April 2 when, according to police department documents, a female witness identified Goodman as the one who swung the chair. The witness picked Goodman out of a photographic lineup that included three FSU football players and nine other students.

Up until then, according to the affidavit, a positive identification had never been made. Since Goodman is charged with a felony, he will be suspended indefinitely, according to FSU’s athletic department policy.

FSU receivers have been involved in their share of headlines.

Preston Parker, the 2007 team MVP, was kicked off the team after a DUI arrest in January. Corey Surrency’s career officially ended this week when the NCAA denied the player’s final appeal granting him another year of eligibility. Senior Rod Owens has been suspended indefinitely after he was arrested on DUI charges in April. Taiwan Easterling ruptured an Achilles in spring drills. Reed, Wade and Goodman also were suspended during the season last year for their reported involvement in a campus fight.