Bob Hinton, an attorney who works for Johnny Manziel, accidentally sent a text message last week to the Associated Press that revealed that Manziel was negotiating a plea deal in his domestic violence case. Manziel is accused of striking and making threats against his former girlfriend, Colleen Crowley, in January.
"Heaven help us if one of the conditions is to pee in a bottle," Hinton reportedly wrote in the text message about a potential plea deal. Hinton added that he met with an administrative chief in the Dallas County District Attorney's Office on Wednesday.
The AP adds that Hinton wrote, "He is very interested in working with us to arrive at some agreement" in the case.
As of Monday morning, Hinton is no longer on the case.
Johnny Manziel's lead attorney Jim Darnell today confirmed to me withdrawal of associate counsel Bob Hinton from Manziel case.
— Denise C Michaels (@denisecmichaels) June 27, 2016
, Denise Michaels (Manziel's spokeswoman, who sent the above tweet) denied that Manziel is seeking a plea deal.
"Lead counsel Jim Darnell has told me from the beginning that he would never have Johnny plead guilty in this and that position has not changed." Michaels also stated that Hinton has "always operated on the periphery of this case."
After the text message became public, Manziel's father made a very frank statement that summed up the current situation with his son.
"He's a druggie. It's not a secret that he's a druggie," Paul Manziel said, per ESPN's Adam Schefter. "I don't know what to say other than my son is a druggie and he needs help. He just hasn't seeked it yet. Hopefully he doesn't die before he comes to his senses. That's about all you can say. I don't know what else to say. I hate to say it but I hope he goes to jail. I mean, that would be the best place for him. So we'll see."
