Jameis Winston's attorney has been firing back at the woman who accused him of sexual assault. Ultimately, the evidence against Winston was not strong enough for a charge or arrest, much less a conviction, the State Attorney decided in late 2013. Wednesday, TMZ Sports obtained a letter Winston's attorney sent to Florida State University.
By Bud Elliott
The TMZ release is as follows ...
Jameis Winston's lawyer has fired off a letter to Florida State University ... claiming the woman who accused his client of rape demanded $7 MILLION to buy her silence.
David Cornwell, the lawyer for the Heisman Trophy winner, sent a letter to FSU, saying Winston will fully cooperate with the University's ongoing investigation into the handling of the rape charges. The alleged victim claims the University engaged in sexual discrimination by sweeping her claims under the rug to protect its prized athlete.
According to the letter -- obtained by TMZ -- the alleged victim's lawyer, Patricia Carroll, demanded $7 MIL to settle her client's claims against FSU and Winston, telling Cornwell, "If we settle, you will never hear from my client or me again -- in the press or anywhere."
Cornwell says he rejected her offer and 4 days later she went to the media.
Cornwell also says Carroll claimed her client's sexual encounter had to be rape, because she would never sleep with a "black boy." Fact is ... the alleged victim's boyfriend at the time was black. The criminal case fell apart, partly because the alleged victim had semen from 2 different men on her shorts.
Cornwell ends his letter to FSU by saying, "Mr. Winston will cooperate with the Investigation. He looks forward to clearing his name. But Mr. Winston will not walk into a honey trap. The Investigation must be a legitimate investigation."
Despite a lack of cooperation, police eventually did find the identity of the second semen sample on the accuser's shorts -- an African American football player at Kent State University school who originally attended Zephyrhills High School.
"[The accuser] acknowledged having sex with her boyfriend," State Attorney Willie Meggs said. "But she wouldn't tell me who her boyfriend was. Being a shrewd investigator, we found out, and we got his DNA." --Â Sports Illustrated, December 5, 2013.
