OT: Florida St. football/rape case

[upstater]

http://espn.go.com/college-football...leged-victim-winston-investigation-speaks-out

When I first heard about this, I thought there had to be more to it. Apparently, there was. When will people learn? You'd think after Sandusky, Steubenville, etc., that institutions and police would have already learned.

 

[ZooCougar]

Holy...

 

[billybud]

I'll wait until he is charged....I am curious about the two witness affidavits...

 

[billybud]

And...a real question is ...why she didn;t know who attacked her on December 7 and identifies Winston in January?

 

[upstater]

I'll wait until he is charged....I am curious about the two witness affidavits...

Just to underline this, I'm a lot more interested in the police response. The family named the police investigator.

 

[upstater]

And...a real question is ...why she didn;t know who attacked her on December 7 and identifies Winston in January?

I haven't been following FSU football, but correct me if I'm wrong. Winston is a breakout player this year. he got no play last year, right? So, speculation about her naming him when he was on the big stage is countered by this revelation that she named him in January.

It could be that she identified him in January, but didn't know his name beforehand, or maybe she was warned not to go forward in December by the police, and then went forward, then dropped it.

 

[SubbaBub]

Her initial physical description to police doesn't come close to matching him. I believe he also has an alibi. This shouldn't take that long to dismiss. I'd be surprised if anything other than CYA is holding this up.

 

[upstater]

Her initial physical description to police doesn't come close to matching him. I believe he also has an alibi. This shouldn't take that long to dismiss. I'd be surprised if anything other than CYA is holding this up.

You're talking about the discrepancy between 5'11 and 6'4? How tall is she? We don't even know. And is he really 6'4 or are those Hilton Units?

 

[billybud]

What is going on down here in Tallahassee is a piss-poor police department...The Chief and assistant have recently retired (been retired)....have lost millions in suits due to :
1...beating a handcuffed woman causing facial damage caught on tape..
2...forcing a college coed (under dire threats) who was caught with marujuana to go into a buy as an informer..where she was killed by the dealer.
3...sexual harrassment by officer when ticketing

And..to make it worse..there is bad blood between the State Attorney and the PD...with the State Attorney now throwing the PD under the bus...

These cops probably did screw it all up, probably did, after the family worried about her name becoming public, warn them about carrying the case forward.

 

[upstater]

What is going on down here in Tallahassee is a piss-poor police department...The Chief and assistant have recently retired (been retired)....have lost millions in suits due to :
1...beating a handcuffed woman causing facial damage caught on tape..
2...forcing a college coed (under dire threats) who was caught with marujuana to go into a buy as an informer..where she was killed by the dealer.
3...s e xual harrassment by officer when ticketing

And..to make it worse..there is bad blood between the State Attorney and the PD...with the State Attorney now throwing the PD under the bus...

These cops probably did screw it all up, probably did, after the family worried about her name becoming public, warn them about carrying the case forward.

Ugh, wow.

 

[huskymedic]

Statement from victim's family: http://tampabay.com/tbprojects/dcloud/dcloud-template.html?doc=837445-winstonstatement

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/coll...-about-pursuing-jameis-winston-matter/2153364

 

[ZooCougar]

This case reminds me a great deal of another controversial ongoing case. Anonymous got into the action on this one, and they had to bring in a special investigator.

Which is probably what needs to happen in this instance.

http://reason.com/archives/2013/11/03/the-lessons-of-the-maryville-rape-case

 

[ZooCougar]

Her initial physical description to police doesn't come close to matching him. I believe he also has an alibi. This shouldn't take that long to dismiss. I'd be surprised if anything other than CYA is holding this up.

Oh please. This is a year old. If it were going to be dismissed then it would have already. Time to bring an independent special investigator. The police obviously can't be trusted at this point.

 

[ZooCougar]

I haven't been following FSU football, but correct me if I'm wrong. Winston is a breakout player this year. he got no play last year, right? So, speculation about her naming him when he was on the big stage is countered by this revelation that she named him in January.

It could be that she identified him in January, but didn't know his name beforehand, or maybe she was warned not to go forward in December by the police, and then went forward, then dropped it.

He redishirted last year.

 

[HartfordHank]

He redishirted last year.

Redshirted in football. He played baseball for FSU last year. Played in all 41 games, starting 32. Was a RHP, LF, RF, DH. Hit .235 and had an ERA of 3.00.

 

[ZooCougar]

Look, both parties, Winston and the victim deserve full rights and due process. But it's a miscarriage of justice when a cop tells a victim that she will face reprisals because of who the perpetrator may be.

And if you have ever dealt with rape victims or victims of domestic violence, then you may be familiar with how they almost universally withhold information soon after or years after an incident. Shame and trauma cause people to do strange things that those of us who have never experienced an event like that can never really understand. It's so damn easy to take this and say that the fact they are withholding is due to some sort of ulterior motive. And that by itself is not enough to dismiss the allegation out of hand.

 

[Jimdish255]

Look, both parties, Winston and the victim deserve full rights and due process. But it's a miscarriage of justice when a cop tells a victim that she will face reprisals because of who the perpetrator may be.

And if you have ever dealt with rape victims or victims of domestic violence, then you may be familiar with how they almost universally withhold information soon after or years after an incident. Shame and trauma cause people to do strange things that those of us who have never experienced an event like that can never really understand. It's so damn easy to take this and say that the fact they are withholding is due to some sort of ulterior motive. And that by itself is not enough to dismiss the allegation out of hand.

I don't fully understand the law here. First the victim wants to press charges. She or her lawyer are warned against doing so because Tallahassee is a big FB town (means they know who it is). Then instead of attempting to inteview the suspect and request samples they immediately go to his lawyer (all FSU players have lawyers on retainer?) to inform them of possible charges, but never move to have a court order DNA collection.

Sounds pretty bad. Like they made sure his rights were more than protected while hers were swept under the carpet. But I wonder just what has to be done to compel collection of evidence in a situation like this? Secondly the inconsistency in the height was leaked/floated out there for a reason and could be totally explainable. It does not exonerate the suspect imo.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

It appears right now there is a clearly mishandled investigation by the police. I can't decipher what exactly happened and which side sounds more believable, because while there is the element of "Sanduskying" this by FSU, this could also be another Duke lacrosse case. Either way, it appears there is a very inept police department in Tallahassee.

 

[huskymedic]

But I wonder just what has to be done to compel collection of evidence in a situation like this?

On TV it would involve an investigator snatching his mouthpiece from his helmet in between offensive series...

...But in realty they just ask for it

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/10009077/dna-analysis-matches-jameis-winston-accuser

>>TALLAHASSEE -- A DNA analysis completed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement on Tuesday confirmed that DNA provided by Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston matched the sample taken from the underwear of a woman who has accused him of sexual battery.<<​

>>Winston's DNA was recently obtained through a buccal swab he provided to authorities investigating the case.<<​

Getting stranger by the day.

 

[whaler11]

Question for those who think the UConn claimants are crazy?

Do you still think that after reading these stories?

 

[Colt house75]

Hope they get to the bottom, now that it is not being swept under the rug...DNA samples matching...getting to resemble Sandusky rather than the Duke situation.
Would not surprise me that in the next 4 weeks we see it accelerate to Winston attorneys /Winston making a statement that it was consensual on the victim's part now that the
DNA testing has been reported by and to the press.

Also very curious to see how media/ESPN handles the situation with BCS implications on the line......could charges be filed
causing a suspension in time to disrupt a team's record before the final 2 games of the season are played?
Just hoping that justice prevails.

 

[SubbaBub]

Question for those who think the UConn claimants are crazy?

Do you still think that after reading these stories?

Yes. And not because of potential misconduct by the police on campus or in Tallahassee. I agree with Zoo that all the facts are not known. For all I know this woman in Florida ID'd the player all along and the case officer deliberately wrote it down wrong, but that doesn't relieve, in this case, the plaintiff from her responsibility to assist in the prosecution. The story as of now sounds more like the Duke case than anything else.

As for UConn, the stink of the money/publicity grab is overpowering everything else.

 

[SubbaBub]

Well, hello Mr DNA. That changes quite a bit.

 

[upstater]

The rapist was 5'9!

 

[upstater]

People use the word "alleged" wrong.

It refers to someone else describing someone as such. Is anyone other than her family describing her as a victim? Maybe so.