Jameis Winston's Lawyer Writes Letter to Florida State Regarding Hearing
Many have wondered why Florida State waited so long to begin a Title IX investigation into the alleged sexual assault committed by quarterback Jameis Winston. According to a letter obtained by Kareem Copeland of The Associated Press, Winston and his adviser are wondering the same exact thing.
Attorney David Cornwell, who has represented Winston in an advisory capacity throughout the Title IX investigation and other off-field transgressions, "accuses the school of trying to protect its own interests and responding to media pressure," per the letter obtained by Copeland.
Winston was accused of sexual assault on Dec. 7, 2012, a case that took nearly a year to be publicly exposed. Though state attorneys did not find enough evidence to send Winston's case to trial—he was cleared Dec. 5, 2013—Florida State restarted its own investigation to the matter in September.
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Under Title IX law, universities are required to investigate claims of sexual assault regardless of whether charges are filed. If found in violation of Florida State's code of conduct, Winston may be suspended or even kicked out of the university. Rachel Axon of USA Today reported in September that investigators interviewed the accuser and two others to determine what happened.
Florida State is currently considering four different disciplinary violations in its investigation, according to a letter sent to the Heisman winner obtained by Sean Rossman of USA Today. An independent arbitrator will make the ruling in the case, with the final say on any potential punishment coming from Florida State's president and board of trustees.
Since receiving notice of the disciplinary hearing, Cornwell has fired back on Winston's behalf—publicly and privately. The high-powered attorney pointedly questioned the university's motives from a timing perspective, noting that typically Title IX cases are resolved in 12 months—not the 20 in Winston's case.
"It doesn't make any sense to rush this thing if we know now, the school has acknowledged that this woman waited 20 months to make a claim after being repeatedly asked by the school to come forward," Cornwell said on ESPN's Outside the Lines on Monday, per the Tallahassee Democrat.
Florida State publicly defended its handling of the case in an open letter to students posted last Friday. The school provided a detailed outline of how the case was handled from a university and police perspective, noting that student-athletes corroborated Winston's claim the sexual encounter was "consensual" in January 2013. Because of the Tallahassee Police Department's decision to not initially pursue the case and the eyewitness testimony, the Title IX officials were not informed.
Florida State claims an additional investigation, which concluded in February 2014 after Winston was not criminally charged, also did not warrant a full-fledged Title IX investigation.
"On February 10, 2014, with neither party offering additional information to the investigative public record, FSU found that there was insufficient evidence to support a finding in the Title IX investigation at this time," the statement read. "Importantly, the ruling expressly left the door open for reconsideration if further information was brought forth."
U.S. Dept. of Education Office of Civil Rights opened an investigation of Florida State's Title IX processes in April. Florida State claims it re-opened the Winston case—he is specifically referred to as "the student" in the statement—after the accuser agreed to testify.
The attorney for the accuser, John Clune, claimed Florida State's statement was "full of errors" in a statement sent to Iliana Limon Romero and Brendan Sonnone of the Orlando Sentinel.
“Florida State knows that there is a big story about to break from the NY Times and their PR team is trying to do a little preventative damage control," Clune wrote. "The obvious news in this statement is that senior athletic department officials met with Winston and his lawyer one month after the rape occurred then decided to hide it from the Title IX office."
There has been no date set for Winston's disciplinary hearing. He is expected to start at quarterback for the No. 2 Seminoles when they host No. 5 Notre Dame on Saturday.
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