![]() She soon went to her room and via text and phone call told her friend she had been raped at a nearby apartment. The woman had been driven on a scooter to a corner near her dorm by, she would much later learn, Jameis Winston at about 2 a.m. Jameis Winston (5) warms up before Florida State's win over Clemson. ET, the Florida State University police received a call from a female friend of the woman looking to report a "sexual batter by an unknown subject," according to the investigative report by James Newlin of the State Attorney's Office. ![]() That's probably why it's relatively rare.Ĭommon sense, and FBI studies, says this isn't one of those cases. To falsely accuse someone of rape is a crime, as it should be. Various statistics ranging from the FBI to the Department of Justice say just 2 to 8 percent of sexual assault allegations are false. And I 100 percent believe the fallout from such baseless claims sadly reverberate far past a single case and out into a society that is just beginning to come to grips with sexual assault. It's just a reminder, for the sake of decency, to pause and, as Seminole coach Jimbo Fisher said this week, consider, "the facts of the case" as it pertains to whether this woman really is the kind of awful human that would engage in a false-reporting shakedown scheme.īecause I 100 percent believe she isn't. It doesn't come with any expectation from the school judicial hearing, who, if it ever even hears the case, will likely see the thin evidence available and deem it, as Meggs did, as a he-said, she-said that seems impossible to rule on. This column isn't to say Winston is guilty, Winston should be charged, Winston should be expelled or Winston should be benched. "This is a scheme, this is shakedown of a college student because he's prominent and he's going to make a lot of money," one of Winston's attorneys told Sports Illustrated this week. Especially as the Free Jameis movement has continued to push into darker and more troubling places, and as his defense team has turned to an unfortunate offense. "While he may believe he had consent, she doesn't believe it."Īnd that is important to consider. "It's clear that she does not believe she gave consent," Dritt said. If she believes it 100 percent, then she isn't making it up. Her actions that night, and in the ensuing weeks, are, I believe, consistent with her believing it. She completely believes it and always has believed it. Perhaps her recollection isn't the proper one or she was confused. What I also believe is the woman involved believes, 100 percent, that Winston sexually assaulted her. If Winston is innocent, it needs to be repeated, this has been a disservice to him. I agree with the local state's attorney that for myriad reasons there isn't enough to charge Winston with a crime, let alone convict. The Tallahassee Police Department did such a shoddy job looking into the case that it's unlikely anyone other than the people involved definitively know, and that is almost certainly a matter of disagreement. I don't know if Jameis Winston sexually assaulted the woman. It's not at all consistent with that." – – – – – – – – – "It's not consistent with a false allegation. "This isn't about a false allegation though," she said. "I think there are actually less people supporting Jameis now, but they have ratcheted up the rhetoric that this is a case about a false accusation. "Some people hoped it would just go away, but as it's become clear it's not going to go away, certain people are pushing back on the victim," Dritt said. While the Winston case has served as an opportunity to educate the public on how sexual assaults occur and has shined a necessary light on poor police work, the backlash has wiped out many of the positive gains. ![]() They are encouraged by bold and overwhelming support from the FSU athletic department and coaches, not to mention heated accusations by Winston's defense team claiming the case is nothing more than a motivated and purposefully false allegation. That doesn't mean she isn't troubled by the continued actions of what she believes is a small, but frenzied group of Seminoles fans who have taken to defending Winston by attacking the woman at all costs, labeling her a liar or an opportunist seeking money. She's anything but some blind advocate looking to take down a Heisman winner. Last December, Winston avoided prosecution when state's attorney William Meggs deemed there was insufficient evidence to press charges, in part because of a bungled Tallahassee Police Department investigation.ĭritt was supportive of Meggs after that decision. Jameis Winston answers a question during ACC media day.
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