Quarterback Jameis Winston has been the most dominant player in college football this season, and his Florida State team is undefeated and a contender for the national championship. But ever since a sexual assault allegation by a former Florida State student became public last month, his on-field exploits have been weighed against how law enforcement in a rabid college football community handled the investigation as well as the role character plays in the awarding of one of sport's most iconic awards: the Heisman Trophy.
On Thursday at 2 p.m., William N. Meggs, state attorney for Florida's Second Judicial Circuit, will announce whether Winston, 19, will face charges of sexual battery at his office in the Leon County Courthouse. Meggs's office took over the investigation last month from the Tallahassee Police Department.
A 19-year-old woman first reported an off-campus sexual assault to the police on Dec. 7, 2012. The decision is unlikely to end criticism of how the Tallahassee police handled the investigation, which seemed to have disappeared until the charges became public.
The woman's family said a police investigator warned her lawyer that pursuing the allegation against Winston would subject her to public scorn and have accused the Tallahassee police of a halfhearted investigation in which DNA evidence was not collected early and potential witnesses were not spoken with.
Evidence gathered the day of the incident matched Winston's DNA, which was collected by the police last month. Winston's lawyer, Tim Jansen, of Tallahassee, said Winston had consensual sex with the accuser, a contention that the woman's family has vehemently denied.
So far, Winston, who was voted the Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year Wednesday, has continued to play for the top-ranked Seminoles and declined to talk about the investigation. He also is the front-runner to win the Heisman Trophy, given to college football's most outstanding player. Among the more than 900 voters, including former winners and news media members, the accusation against Winston has been a source for soul-searching, with ballots due Monday.
If he is charged with a felony, the university's code of conduct requires Winston to be immediately suspended from the team until the case is resolved. Only a finding of 'extraordinary circumstances' by the administration would allow him to play.
Meggs, who has been in the state's attorney office for 29 years, is a graduate of Florida State.
'I'm not involved in the national championship,' Meggs said this month. 'I'm in the job of state attorney prosecuting criminal cases and crimes, that's what I do. Other people play football.'
Ray Glier contributed reporting.
Posted by Unknown on Thursday, December 5, 2013 - Rating: 4.5
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