Florida State officials and university police officers tampered with the 2013 rape investigation of Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jameis Winston, according to a report by Fox Sports. Specifically, the report claims that police reports were handed over to university officials and Winston's legal representation days before they were given to the State Attorney.
FSU, police reportedly interfered with Jameis Winston investigation
Friday night reports by Fox Sports and The New York Times allege cooperation between the school and local police.
John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
According to the report -- which Fox claims was pieced together with law enforcement files, emails and video -- the chief of university police received supplemental reports from Tallahassee police on Nov. 8, 2013, four days before they were given to State Attorney Willie Meggs, the prosecutor responsible for investigating and potentially filing chargers in the case. The reports were then reportedly handed off to a high-ranking member of the athletic department and eventually Winston’s defense attorney, Tim Jansen. This effectively gave Winston and the school a head start on investigators.
Jameis Winston
Winston’s defense was also given first crack at key witnesses, per the report. Before police could speak with them, two Florida State football players who claimed to be present on the morning of the alleged assault sat down with Jansen and signed affidavits backing Winston’s account of the incidents.
The report also indicates that university police ran interference on reporters and fed information to school officials. Both the university’s police chief and his second in command allegedly kept Florida State administrators up to date with the latest details and referred to the incident to at least one reporter as a false rumor.
The handling of the investigation, which ended with no charges being filed against Winston, is currently under federal investigation. The complaint of sexual assault was originally filed with the Tallahassee Police Department on Dec. 7, 2012, but State Attorney did not open its investigation until Nov. 14, 2013. A report by The New York Times later alleged inconsistencies in the investigation and claim that the alleged victim had bruising and that Winston was linked to genetic material found in her underwear.
The university released a statement on Friday detailing its timeline of events in the rape investigation. Administrators claim they did not file a formal report to the school’s Title IX administrator -- a requirement for any school employee who knows about a sexual assault or harassment incident -- because no charges were filed by police.
Update: The New York Times also published a Friday night story on FSU football and Tallahassee law enforcement, a lengthy one that includes a portion on Winston:
The Tallahassee police also failed to aggressively investigate the rape accusation. It did not become public until November, when a Tampa reporter, Matt Baker, acting on a tip, sought records of the police investigation.
Upon learning of Mr. Baker's inquiry, Florida State, having shown little curiosity about the rape accusation, suddenly took a keen interest in the journalist seeking to report it, according to emails obtained by The Times.
"Can you share any details on the requesting source?" David Perry, the university's police chief, asked the Tallahassee police. Several hours later, Mr. Bonasorte, the senior athletic department official, asked Chief Perry if the requester was a sportswriter. The chief did not know.
And Baker adds a perspective on the information:
(1/?) I've read the Fox Sports story on the Winston case and have copies of most/all of those documents. Here's why I didn't report it...
— Matt Baker (@MBakerTBTimes) October 10, 2014 (2/?) FSU PD forwarded an email to FSU sr assoc AD. Whether the police reports were attached to that is unclear...
— Matt Baker (@MBakerTBTimes) October 10, 2014 (3/?) FSU legal counsel and spokesperson told me months ago police reports were not attached. ...
— Matt Baker (@MBakerTBTimes) October 10, 2014 (4/?) The PDFs are written as < PDF >. That sometimes happens if an email is forwarded but the attachment has been stripped.
— Matt Baker (@MBakerTBTimes) October 10, 2014 (5/?) My editors and I could not definitively say that the police report was sent to FSU sr assoc AD. So we did not report it.
— Matt Baker (@MBakerTBTimes) October 10, 2014 (6/?) Not saying it did or did not happen. We could not be 100 percent sure, so we erred on the side of caution.
— Matt Baker (@MBakerTBTimes) October 10, 2014 (7/?) I'm not attacking/disputing Fox's story. I'm saying why we made a different decision with the same/similar facts.
— Matt Baker (@MBakerTBTimes) October 10, 2014 (8/?) Meggs and others have said in the past that Winston's then-attorney got a copy of the police report before he should have.
— Matt Baker (@MBakerTBTimes) October 10, 2014 (9/?) I, and others, have reported that. I have not seen definitive proof as to how he might have gotten it, so I haven't reported how.
— Matt Baker (@MBakerTBTimes) October 10, 2014 (10/10) I'm aware of the report. But that's why I haven't written it in the past and won't write on it now. Reasonable people can disagree.
— Matt Baker (@MBakerTBTimes) October 10, 2014 See More:
