Jameis Winston’s case won’t be reopened, says governor’s office
Jameis Winston’s sexual assault investigation is not going to be reopened, despite a plea from the accuser’s attorney on Friday.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott released a statement through a spokeswoman Friday afternoon saying there are no plans to look into the case again.
“The state attorney’s office and FDLE [Florida Department of Law Enforcement] did a thorough investigation of this case and they concluded that no further action on this matter is required,” spokeswoman Jackie Schutz said in an email to the media.
At a news conference Friday morning, attorney Patricia Carroll called on Florida’s attorney general to investigate how the case against Winston, the Florida State quarterback, was handled by the Tallahassee Police Department and the state attorney’s office.
“There appears to be a complete failure of an investigation of a rape case,” Carroll said. “I call upon the attorney general to conduct an independent investigation into this case and the Tallahassee Police Department.”
Shortly thereafter, Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi’s office released a statement saying that any request for an investigation would need to go through Scott. “Any allegations regarding elected officials need to be directed to the Governor’s office,” according to the statement. “Atty. Gen. Bondi has spoken with FDLE Commissioner [Gerald] Bailey regarding a possible formal request from the attorney alleging criminal allegations against TPD. No formal request has yet been received.”
On Dec. 5, the state attorney’s office in Tallahassee announced it would not press charges against Winston for the December 2012 incident.
“We’ve carefully examined all the evidence in this case and have concluded that no charges will be filed against anybody in this case,” State Attorney Willie Meggs said at the time.
At her press conference, Carroll detailed a list of inconsistencies or incomplete documents that were part of the case, and questioned how some evidence in the case was handled.
Among her complaints was that medical records included in the police report were incomplete — she said the family had 11 pages of medical documents from the woman’s visit to Tallahassee Memorial Health Care Center and the state listed only four pages.
She also questioned the validity of the urine sample allegedly taken from the woman that was tested for the any drugs, including the so-called “date rape” drug Rohypnol.
Although the state said the sample showed no drugs in the accuser’s system, Carroll questioned the chain of custody for the urine sample and questioned why a blood sample was never tested for drugs. She said the accuser’s symptoms were consistent with someone who had been drugged.
Carroll also said the state did not record key interviews with the parties in the case during the course of the conversation.
Carroll accused the state attorney’s office of focusing its investigation on the accuser, not on the person she accused of sexually assaulting her.
“This was an investigation into a rape victim, not an investigation into a rape suspect,” Carroll said. “The bulk of the investigation was into the rape victim.”
She said statements from two of Winston’s teammates who allegedly witnessed a sexual encounter they called consensual were lies. “I believe those statements are patently false,” Carroll said.
Nick Saban reportedly agrees to long-term deal with Alabama
Alabama and Coach Nick Saban have agreed to a long-term deal that will keep the four-time champion coach in Tuscaloosa, a source familiar with the situation told ESPN. Saban has been rumored as a candidate for the Texas job if Mack Brown leaves the program. Saban is already the highest-paid coach in college football at $5.62 million per year after signing an extension in March that kept the coach under contract through 2020. The details on his new deal remain unclear.
ETC.
Quarterback Everett Golson has been readmitted to Notre Dame after being suspended for the fall semester for what he termed “poor judgment on a test.” Coach Brian Kelly said Golson, who has two years of eligibility left, would not travel with the team to the Dec. 23 Pinstripe Bowl in New York City, but said Golson might be in New York around that time. .... Arizona State Coach Todd Graham said backup quarterback Michael Eubank plans to transfer to another school.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
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