Jameis Winston is a quarterback for Florida State University, but his future may suffer as the result of sexual-assault allegations. These stem from an incident that occurred in December of 2012, when a girl said she was assaulted by someone who fit his description. The alleged victim said that the assault took place with physical force and that it occurred early in the morning on December 7th. In early February the case was closed, but once it was forwarded to Willie Meggs of the state attorney’s office, it was re-opened. The investigation is still currently going on today, and if Winston is charged with a felony he will have to be suspended from the FSU team according to their policy. Unfortunately this may mean a losing season for the team, as their backup, Jacob Cocker, is out due to surgery on his meniscus.
Winston is one of the top players of the team and has led them to becoming one of the top two teams in the entire United States. The team would likely drop in the rankings if he were to be dismissed for legal reasons. The investigators that are working on the case have vowed to find out what really happened and hope that the decision of whether or not to file charges will be made within the next one or two weeks. One obstacle they have to overcome is that the victim moved out of state, and now investigators have to meet up with her in order to continue on. Lawyers for the state are worried because it’s been so long since the original allegations were made. They feel that now the people involved have had almost a full year to put stories together and decide exactly what they are going to say.
Winston’s attorney fought that statement, addressing the fact that they had released confidential information in a press interview. The comments made during the interview for the state attorney could have affected the public’s point of view. They could have also raised a lot of concerns to those that are working the case. The last thing Winston’s lawyers want is an unfair investigation, because each person deserves a fair trial in the criminal justice system. In addition to this, Winston’s attorney says that he has witness affidavits that will exonerate his clients, and those will come into play during the investigation.
As for FSU, right now it is hanging on and hoping for the best outcome. They have not lost their focus and are devoted to being the top team, even if they lose Winston in the end. Jameis still smiles at his supporters during games and plays well, despite all of the scrutiny that he’s been put under. Winston has said to his lawyer that he is at peace with the situation and that the timing is very odd because it came out of the blue. Right now he is letting his lawyer do all the speaking for him and has been staying quiet about the situation to reporters.