We take you now to Tallahassee, Fla

[Shldr2Shldr]

At this point, the only possible defense he has is that it was consensual. The timing to me is what gets me as well. The victim said she was afraid to come out because of his notoriety. Isn't this even worst than last year, when he was much less known especially to non-cfb fans? Someone on a different board compared to Jerry Sandusky. I told them that was a terrible example because Sandusky had become less known not more known like Winston.

She was worried about the notoriety because she lived in Tallahassee, she has since moved out of state. Her lawyer is also one of the big players really pushing this whole thing. Apparently the girl's roommate is one of the eye witnesses that corroborates Winston's story. Still have no idea what that story is. Something very fishy with this whole thing.

 

[cubuffs85]

She was worried about the notoriety because she lived in Tallahassee, she has since moved out of state. Her lawyer is also one of the big players really pushing this whole thing. Apparently the girl's roommate is one of the eye witnesses that corroborates Winston's story. Still have no idea what that story is. Something very fishy with this whole thing.

That still doesn't make sense, why she would pick NOW instead of last year to come forward. If FSU was 4-6, would she still have pressed charges?

 

[Shldr2Shldr]

That still doesn't make sense, why she would pick NOW instead of last year to come forward. If FSU was 4-6, would she still have pressed charges?

If, and that is a big if, the attorney is the one driving this thing maybe not. Maybe if Winston wasn't leading the Heisman race. Maybe it still would have come out. It is all very strange.

 

[cubuffs85]

If, and that is a big if, the attorney is the one driving this thing maybe not. Maybe if Winston wasn't leading the Heisman race. Maybe it still would have come out. It is all very strange.

It's possible, the timing is more than suspicious and although I believe it should be prosecuted, it still doesn't change my opinion that this person is probably an opportunist.

 

[Alfred91]

It's possible, the timing is more than suspicious and although I believe it should be prosecuted, it still doesn't change my opinion that this person is probably an opportunist.

Probably. The fact that she went to the cops at the time and was essentially intimidated by the police in order to get her to drop it is important, imo. She probably is more willing to pursue it now that she thinks Winston is headed for a big payday, but that doesn't change the facts of the story - if she was indeed raped.

 

[cubuffs85]

Probably. The fact that she went to the cops at the time and was essentially intimidated by the police in order to get her to drop it is important, imo. She probably is more willing to pursue it now that she thinks Winston is headed for a big payday, but that doesn't change the facts of the story - if she was indeed raped.

Yeah she just not buying the whole "unwanted publicity" defense here, since this is just getting more publicity as a result of it being brought up as he's much more of a household name than a year ago.

 

[cmgoods]

http://deadspin.com/jameis-winston-...source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

 

[Shldr2Shldr]

http://deadspin.com/jameis-winston-...source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

The sad part is that is probably 80% of college athletics, not just FSU. I bet in the late 80's early 90's you could have written a similar story here. I bet you could write 10 similar stories with the dynasty in Tuscaloosa. College football has become an NFL minor league where the players have to fake going to school. It is one of the benefits to our level of suckitide. Our players for the most part would not get away with that here. Our culture does not support it because we are so terrible.

 

[J.R. Ewing]

http://deadspin.com/jameis-winston-...source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

Whoah.

 

[El Gringo]

He still has not been formally charged. Very strange set of circumstances. Winston's attorney also has 2 witness that fully corroborate his story. Is this an instance of two drunk folks at a bar, and now one is regretting it? Is she trying to hop on the money train that Winston will likely be driving? Did he actually assault her? I can't imagine that the attorney would be parading around 2 eye witnesses if that was their story. Very, very odd the timing of it all.

Probably. The fact that she went to the cops at the time and was essentially intimidated by the police in order to get her to drop it is important, imo. She probably is more willing to pursue it now that she thinks Winston is headed for a big payday, but that doesn't change the facts of the story - if she was indeed raped.

The other element of this that lends credence to her version is that she went to the hospital immediately afterwards, and the hospital took the evidence and treated her as a rape victim. That suggests this is not an instance of regretting a wild night.

 

[Junction]

http://deadspin.com/jameis-winston-...source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

Great article.

I don't know what to make of the Winston thing. Sounds like he definitely had sex with the girl. But that doesn't mean he raped her - did she consent, then change her mind? Was she too drunk to consent (I seem to remember hearing that the tox screen in the rape kit she had done said she wasn't?)? Or did he simply rape her? There's just not enough information to know at this point.

I think Buff fans probably have a unique perspective on this for obvious reasons. I just hope that nobody starts rushing to judgement either way on this. I really hope that if he is innocent, he doesn't get ruined in the media before the facts are allowed to come out.

 

[azbuff]

That still doesn't make sense, why she would pick NOW instead of last year to come forward. If FSU was 4-6, would she still have pressed charges?

C'mon man.

 

[Shldr2Shldr]

His story is they had sex, both parties gave consent. He has two eye witnesses, one of which being the accusers roommate, that corroborate his story. I still don't understand why ESPN would jump out and drag this kid through the mud when there have been no charges.

 

[Junction]

His story is they had sex, both parties gave consent. He has two eye witnesses, one of which being the accusers roommate, that corroborate his story. I still don't understand why ESPN would jump out and drag this kid through the mud when there have been no charges.

Because dragging this kid through the mud creates a scandal? And scandals generate clicks and ratings, whether they're true or not? And ESPiN has the journalistic ethics of the National Enquirer, without all the pesky actual ethics?

 

[Buffnik]

His story is they had sex, both parties gave consent. He has two eye witnesses, one of which being the accusers roommate, that corroborate his story. I still don't understand why ESPN would jump out and drag this kid through the mud when there have been no charges.

1. She is saying she was assaulted.
2. She is saying that she was threatened to keep quiet by people protecting the football program.
3. The story has progressed from "he wasn't involved, just a guy the police wanted to ask a few questions" to "there's DNA evidence that he had sex with her and is the target of the investigation".

I'm not saying he's guilty. I don't know. Maybe she's a liar and a gold digger. Maybe she's a rape victim. I don't know. But I do know that when a Heisman candidate QB for a national championship contender has been accused of rape and there's physical evidence to show there is some level of credibility to it... then there is no doubt it's a national story.

Whether ESPN does a good job of covering that story is another issue. They won't. They'll sensationalize in order to fill air time. And Winston, if innocent, will get dragged through the mud even if the DA never brings charges against him.

 

[Alfred91]

As was stated above, we as Buffs know exactly how **** will probably play out.

 

[J.R. Ewing]

As was stated above, we as Buffs know exactly how **** will probably play out.

Florida St will put crushing recruiting restrictions on itself?

 

[leftybuff]

Florida St will put crushing recruiting restrictions on itself?

Is Ceal Barry working there now?

 

[Junction]

As was stated above, we as Buffs know exactly how **** will probably play out.

Do any of the FSU Trustees have a spouse who is an attorney?

 

[leftybuff]

Do any of the FSU Trustees have a spouse who is an attorney?

Is the local DA asking how we can keep the players away from "our girls"?

 

[cubuffs85]

C'mon man.

Why c'mon man? You don't see this timing being incredibly suspicious? Facts are this: FSU is #2 in the country, he's in the Heisman hunt... this happened a year ago. Facts are facts!

 

[TDbuff]

 

[Gary Indiana]

I will take a team of average players and infinite 4-8 seasons ahead of any NCs if this is how you have to obtain them. I am not by any means stating that the two are mutually exclusive, I realize that many tremendous athletes are also great people, but I for one hope we never lower our moral standards to the level of turning a blind eye on the things noted in the Deadspin article. I would like a team I am proud to cheer on, win or lose, not one whose character takes a back seat to wins.

 

[azbuff]

Why c'mon man? You don't see this timing being incredibly suspicious? Facts are this: FSU is #2 in the country, he's in the Heisman hunt... this happened a year ago. Facts are facts!

Read the stories. It doesn't appear the timing is the alleged victim's fault at all, as you imply. Rather, the timing is very clearly the fault of some sort of negligence or cover-up by the Tallahassee PD, which is in my opinion the only party clearly guilty of wrongdoing.

More importantly, who gives a **** about the timing? Either the girl was sexually assaulted or she is falsely accusing Winston of it. Whichever is true, this event could take down both of their young lives. ****heads running around crowing about the "timing" of the investigation because it coincides with FSU's run towards a MNC make me ill.

EDIT: Always cracks me up when people say "facts are facts" and ignore most of the facts. You're not citing facts, you are using a football team's on-field performance as incredibly questionable circumstantial evidence that this story was leaked at the time it would hurt FSU the most.

 

[cubuffs85]

Read the stories. It doesn't appear the timing is the alleged victim's fault at all, as you imply. Rather, the timing is very clearly the fault of some sort of negligence or cover-up by the Tallahassee PD, which is in my opinion the only party clearly guilty of wrongdoing.

More importantly, who gives a **** about the timing? Either the girl was sexually assaulted or she is falsely accusing Winston of it. Whichever is true, this event could take down both of their young lives. ****heads running around crowing about the "timing" of the investigation because it coincides with FSU's run towards a MNC make me ill.

EDIT: Always cracks me up when people say "facts are facts" and ignore most of the facts. You're not citing facts, you are using a football team's on-field performance as incredibly questionable circumstantial evidence that this story was leaked at the time it would hurt FSU the most.

I've read the story, lots of developments coming out. The timing is very suspicious to me period, given the facts, and yes the facts extend to the football field in this case.

I already said it should be prosecuted, regardless I'm just not sure if it would be if FSU was doing worse on the football field.

And in terms of your "who cares about the timing of this"... we're not discussing this if FSU is 4-6 right now and Winston isn't a Heisman Trophy contender. It's not nearly as big of a story. So to answer your question, lots of people care about that aspect of it. Not saying it's right, just the cold hard truth.

 

[cubuffs85]

I will take a team of average players and infinite 4-8 seasons ahead of any NCs if this is how you have to obtain them. I am not by any means stating that the two are mutually exclusive, I realize that many tremendous athletes are also great people, but I for one hope we never lower our moral standards to the level of turning a blind eye on the things noted in the Deadspin article. I would like a team I am proud to cheer on, win or lose, not one whose character takes a back seat to wins.

I always love when people use this line. That's great and all, I sure want to win with class. I don't think it's such an either or thing. Obviously it's harder when you have standards but both Northwestern and Stanford have found ways to win and they have greater restrictions than we have.

 

[Junction]

Read the stories. It doesn't appear the timing is the alleged victim's fault at all, as you imply. Rather, the timing is very clearly the fault of some sort of negligence or cover-up by the Tallahassee PD, which is in my opinion the only party clearly guilty of wrongdoing.

I don't think it's clear at all that they're guilty of "wrongdoing".

I assume you're talking about the fact that an officer allegedly told the accuser that if she pressed charges, things could be very rough for her, because Tallahayseed is a football crazy town. Which could be construed as intimidation. It could also be construed as a factually accurate statement that is important for a fully informed person to be aware of. At this point, I don't think we can make any judgements about the way that the statement was intended. We do know that the accuser's family is citing it as an example of intimidation, but like everything else in this case, their reasons for doing so really require more facts in order to be properly judged....

 

[cubuffs85]

I don't think it's clear at all that they're guilty of "wrongdoing".

I assume you're talking about the fact that an officer allegedly told the accuser that if she pressed charges, things could be very rough for her, because Tallahayseed is a football crazy town. Which could be construed as intimidation. It could also be construed as a factually accurate statement that is important for a fully informed person to be aware of. At this point, I don't think we can make any judgements about the way that the statement was intended. We do know that the accuser's family is citing it as an example of intimidation, but like everything else in this case, their reasons for doing so really require more facts in order to be properly judged....

It depends how the officer told her, but I think the PD here are in a damned if they, damned if they don't conundrum. If they don't say that, she might regret pressing charges because it's not worth the loss of anonymity. But by even hinting at this, you are saying, "might want to think twice" about pressing charges.

How crazy is Talahayseed? I don't know, sure it's bigger than most places, but they haven't exactly been selling out games left and right this season.

 

[MtnBuff]

1. She is saying she was assaulted.
2. She is saying that she was threatened to keep quiet by people protecting the football program.
3. The story has progressed from "he wasn't involved, just a guy the police wanted to ask a few questions" to "there's DNA evidence that he had sex with her and is the target of the investigation".

I'm not saying he's guilty. I don't know. Maybe she's a liar and a gold digger. Maybe she's a rape victim. I don't know. But I do know that when a Heisman candidate QB for a national championship contender has been accused of rape and there's physical evidence to show there is some level of credibility to it... then there is no doubt it's a national story.

Whether ESPN does a good job of covering that story is another issue. They won't. They'll sensationalize in order to fill air time. And Winston, if innocent, will get dragged through the mud even if the DA never brings charges against him.

^^Spot on^^

Unfortunately because of the way this thing was handled both sides are going to be hurt and neither is going to get justice. Maybe she is trying to take advantage of him now that he is famous, maybe he used his status as a high profile football recruit in a football crazy town to get away with rape.

He has witnesses, she has physical evidence that is not consistent with his earlier statements, it goes on and on.

Ultimately it will come down to his word versus her word. No matter what happened there will always be those who believe he is a rapist who got away with something because he is a "football star" and there will be those who believe that he is nothing more than the victim of a lying female trying to take advantage of his name.

Had the police actually done a thorough and competent follow up at the time it happened instead of giving the appearance of or pushing it under the rug the final conclusions would have been more credible than anything that they could produce after this amount of time.

The bad thing is that ultimately these kinds of cases almost always come down to one persons word against another. Public perception gets based on which side people choose to align with regardless of what actually happened.

In a college town where you have thousands of young people out interacting with each other and moving into private situations it's hard to imagine that there aren't hundreds or more cases each year where one party reads yes and the other thinks they communicated no. Add the situations where after the fact the girl wishes she had said no or not gotten into the situation to start with and changes the story.

The only ones who know what happened are those directly involved and they aren't going to admit to being wrong even if they are. What would normally be an issue that gets settled in a manner that gets little notice will be permanently attached to the people involved here because of his level of fame no matter what the real story is.

 

[Swish]

Won't be much money around if he ends up doing a stretch in the jug.