The report linked above focuses on the events of November 2013 after Matt Baker of the Tampa Bay newspaper leaked the original police report to TMZ. The November news report of 2013 led to the state attorney investigation by Willie Meggs and is actually the second investigation. Meggs was not involved in the original investigation. The actual incident happened 11 months earlier on Dec. 6, 2012 and the original police report is from that time frame. In December of 2012 Winston had not yet played a down of football. From the very beginning, the accuser (EK) did not name Jameis and said that her attacker was 5'9". This is all in the original police report. Winston is 6'4". Reports indicating that the police could have done more have been construed to mean that there was no rape kit done during the original investigation (there was at the city hospital - not on campus) or that she was drunk (her alcohol level was less than 50% of the legal limit) or that she was drugged (two tests, including one from UF, indicate zero drugs in her system). You should take the time to read it if you want to comment on these matters.
You can do research on Willie Meggs and find that he is an FSU graduate, but that might make you think that he is a friend of the school. There are various incidents, especially with Peter Warrick, that completely debunk that view. As the SA, he has been very aggressive against FSU football players. But he keeps getting re-elected as he represents the "old guard" in the racial politics of Tallahassee. I won't say more on that. SA Meggs also has a very strained relationship with the Tallahassee Police Dept., and he has been trying to get control of them under his office. There is no doubt that he wanted to find a way to charge JW (Meggs didn't like him), but EK had three versions of the event before he interviewed her, and from I hear, she came up with another one. Meggs made it clear that she could not give credible testimony, and there was no physical evidence of a rape. Without her testimony, there is no case. You should take the time to read the SA report.
That does not mean that the police department isn't run by a bunch of lazy buffoons. They should have investigated more. Bad police work does not do anybody any good. Sexual violence on college campuses is a clear and serious issue. But there is a gap between what that means to some people and how rape is defined. It needs to be fixed. It can't be fixed by news organizations that pick and choose what it wants to report and it also can't be fixed by on campus investigations that do not allow students due process or right to an attorney. Sorry for going off track, but you have to read the articles regarding Harvard University to see what I mean.
All the potential criminal legal actions involving Winston are completely done. The only case that remains open with regard to him is the civil action between him and EK. They are suing each other for monetary damages. That will be an interesting case as through all of this, Winston never publicly spoke about what happened other than a statement when he was in front of the student council. The action against the school is a different and Winston is not involved with that.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but read the police reports.
