I will caveat; I’m not an FSU supporter and certainly not a Winston supporter. However, the charges of rape are suspect at best.
I’m not sure if you checked out the evidence in the rape the case, but I don’t know how anyone could possibly review it and know for certain what happened. Does Winston seem like a dope, sure, but it’s a classic case of he said/she said. If anything, the beginning part of the accuser story, which is the least important part of the story, is filled with holes, conflicting statements and what appears to be flat out lies.
Several witnesses, including her own friends, place her with the three FSU players, drinking, exchanging phone numbers and willingly leaving with them and getting into a cab. Yet, she denies all of this. Obviously, lying about the chain of events that started this ordeal does not mean she is lying about the events to follow and even if she was hanging all over these guys and left willingly doesn’t mean she intended to have sex with them either. It certainly does give the appearance of several mistruths on the only actions that can be confirmed by parties outside of the three FSU players, who you would suspect would back Winston’s story whether true or not.
If anything, the only thing that is clear is that FSU and the Tallahassee police botched this investigation with such a degree of negligence it had to be done willingly. Any University should take these types of allegations seriously and investigate thoroughly, efficiently and promptly. FSU and the police failed on all three accounts and took the approach of sweeping it under the rug rather than risk their being any merit to the case whatsoever. They couldn't find the cab driver, yet they know the company and there were less than 20 employees working at the time? They couldn't review the club camera footage because they remove it after 30 days, really it took them over thirty days to request that? The University and police working in conjunction with the accused's defense attorney, seriously?
Ironically, had they seen this through, unless there is additional evidence that has not been reported and/or covered up, Winston would have certainly been cleared based on the holes in her story and the rape kit/examination not backing up her story.
Eventually, the University will have to answer for this and the role they played, or lack thereof, in the investigation, but Winston will go unblemished. By all accounts, his draft status has not been affected as some have suggested in this thread, save for the debate of Mariota v Winston being settled. Winston will still be the second QB taken in the draft and pending how the order falls will go in the 4-5 or 7-8 range a few slots after Mariota is selected. His endorsement potential has taken a huge hit, but the NFL doesn’t give a shit about stolen crab legs, BB guns or signing autographs for money.
I just hope he doesn't end on a team I support.....
