National Football League

Winston's accuser files civil lawsuit against ex-Florida State QB

Published Apr. 16, 2015 5:40 p.m. ET

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A woman who alleged that Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston raped her has filed a civil lawsuit against the former Florida State University quarterback — just weeks before he is expected to be the top pick in the NFL Draft.

No criminal charges were filed against Winston, and a school-led code-of-conduct hearing held last December also ended with a decision clearing him of responsibility for the incident, which occurred at his off-campus apartment on Dec. 7, 2012.

Winston contended he and Erica Kinsman had a consensual sexual encounter. (NOTE: FOX Sports generally does not identify alleged victims of sexual assault, but Kinsman came forward earlier this year to tell her story in a documentary entitled "The Hunting Ground.")

Winston's attorney David Cornwell issued a statement Friday morning.

"This stunt was expected. Ms. Kinsman's false accusations have already been exposed and rejected six times. This time will be no different. Mr. Winston welcomes the opportunity to clear his name with the truth.

"Mr. Winston is looking forward to the upcoming draft. He will not permit this ploy to distract him as he begins the journey of fulfilling his lifelong dream of being a championship quarterback in the National Football League."

Kinsman, who alleged there was nothing consensual about the incident, filed the suit in Florida state court, accusing him of sexual battery, assault, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. She seeks an unspecified amount in damages — but asserted in the suit that they exceed $15,000, a statutory requirement in Florida.

Florida State itself is the subject of an ongoing federal investigation, conducted by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, into its handling of the incident. The woman also has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the university under the gender-equity law known as Title IX.

Both the investigation and the lawsuit are pending.

John Clune, one of Kinsman’s attorneys, released a statement in which he called Winston “an entitled athlete who believes he can take what he wants.”

“He took something here that he was not entitled to and he hurt someone,” Clune said. “There are consequences for that behavior, and since others have refused to hold him accountable, our client will.”

The evening that led to the accusation began when the woman and several friends went to Potbelly’s, a popular Tallahassee night spot. She later told investigators that she consumed several drinks and that someone she did not know bought her a shot.

After drinking that shot, the woman told police, she ended up in a cab with three men and found herself at an apartment, where she said she was raped — first in a bedroom and then in a bathroom. After the incident, the woman said her attacker put her on a scooter and drove her back to the Florida State campus.

She called a friend, then the campus police department. Florida State officers concluded the assault occurred off campus and turned the case over to Tallahassee police.

The woman told officers she did not know her attacker.

A little more than a month later, after the spring term began at Florida State, the woman called police and said she’s seen her assailant in a class and listened for his name when the professor called roll. She gave the detective Winston’s name.

At that point, Winston was a highly prized two-sport recruit, but he had yet to throw a football or baseball in competition for Florida State.

The initial investigation was fraught with problems: Detectives failed to visit Potbelly’s to examine surveillance camera footage or attempt to identify others who were at the bar despite the woman identifying one person there as a freshman football player named “Chris.” They also had no luck finding the cab driver who gave the woman a ride.

Tallahassee police closed the investigation, contending the woman was uncooperative — an assertion her attorneys repeatedly have challenged.

In November 2013, after a reporter asked about the case, Tallahassee police turned reports in the case over to Florida State’s campus police chief, who in turn forwarded them to a senior official in the athletic department. Four days later, Tallahassee police notified State Attorney Willie Meggs’ office of the existence of the case, and he launched a new investigation.

Laboratory tests found Winston’s DNA on the woman’s clothing.

In the end, Meggs concluded the evidence was not strong enough to support criminal charges. He based that decision, in part, on problems presented by gaps in the woman’s memory. Meggs said he believed it was possible the woman had been slipped a so-called “date rape” drug, perhaps in the shot. But a blood test administered roughly six hours after the alleged assault failed to identify the presence of any drugs, although such substances can be hard to detect even a few hours after they are ingested.

That test did show that the woman had a blood-alcohol level of .048, more than twice the level at which a motorist under age 21 can lose his or her driver’s license in Florida.

By then, Winston had burst onto the scene as a redshirt freshman quarterback and taken Florida State to the top of the national polls.

By the end of that season, he was a Heisman winner, and Florida State was national champion for the first time since 1999.

Major Harding, a retired Florida Supreme Court justice, conducted two days of closed-door hearings last Dec. 2 and 3 in Tallahassee, into allegations that Winston violated Florida State student conduct policies. In the end, he concluded there was not enough evidence to find that Winston broke school rules.

“As summarized in the preceding paragraphs, the evidence regarding the events that unfolded between you and (the accuser) once in your room is irreconcilable,” Harding wrote in his decision. “In light of all the circumstances, I do not find the credibility of one story substantially stronger than that of the other. Both have their own strengths and weaknesses. I cannot find with any confidence that the events as set for by you, (the accuser), or a particular combination thereof is more probable than not as required to find you responsible for a violation of the code. Therein lies the determinative factor of my decision.”

Last October, FOX Sports reported that its investigation of the incident found numerous questions about the response of both police and university officials to the woman’s allegation.

For instance, FOX Sports found that even though police investigators began to dig into the case immediately, they did not attempt to interview Winston until 12 days later. And instead of showing up unannounced to see whether he would answer questions — a typical police tactic — detectives called him and asked him to come in for an interview.

That investigation also found that Tallahassee police forwarded the reports in the case to Florida State’s campus police chief, David Perry, who, in turn, forwarded them to Monk Bonasorte, a senior official in the athletics department. Those reports then ended up in the hands of Winston’s attorney, Tim Jansen, who obtained sworn statements from two of Winston’s teammates, Chris Casher and Ronald Darby, before any investigator ever spoke with them. Casher and Darby both asserted that they witnessed a portion of the woman’s encounter with Winston and it appeared to be consensual.

Winston declined and never spoke to law enforcement about what happened.

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