The attorney for Jameis Winston’s accuser called upon Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to conduct an independent investigation into the sexual assault case against the FSU quarterback and Tallahassee Police Department Friday morning.
The accuser’s attorney, Patricia Carroll, said in a press conference said the conduct of the Tallahassee Police Department and state attorney Willie Meggs was an “investigation of a rape victim, not a rape suspect.”
Carroll said she and the accuser’s family are not considering a civil suit against Winston at this time.
Carroll pointed to search warrants issued for the accuser’s phone records by Tallahassee Police Department Detective Scott Angulo, instead of obtaining a search warrant for Winston’s DNA last January when the alleged victim identified Winston as the perpetrator.
Additionally, Carroll blasted Meggs’ focus on discovering who the second sample of DNA belonged to -- later to be discovered as that of the accuser’s boyfriend. The prying into the accuser’s past sexual history opened her up for inquiries that wouldn’t stand in a court of law, Carroll said.
When the case reached Meggs, Carroll requested Winston’s phone records be obtained, but Meggs told her those documents were no longer available -- though Carroll said those records actually could’ve been obtained.
“They didn’t try,” Carroll said.
Among the other issues Carroll raised with the investigation, both by the Tallahassee Police Department and state attorney’s office:
-- The medical records used in the investigation did not include certain information that were on the medical records given to Carroll by the accuser’s family. Among the omitted information: The clinician’s opinion a sexual assault had occurred.
-- Carroll said the symptoms reported by the accuser were consistent with a date rape drug being used, but Carroll also said the alleged victim took a shot from “a big black guy” at a bar, and her memory was intermittent afterwards. The blood provided by the accuser was never tested for the presence of a date rape drug, Carroll said.
-- The report written by Angulo contained inconsistencies, such as listing two different heights provided by the accuser though nowhere in the report did Angulo state the accuser gave a different height. Many of Angulo’s interviews with the accuser were not recorded.
-- Carroll said Meggs relied heavily on affidavits given by two of Winston’s teammates -- Chris Casher and Ronald Darby -- stating that the sexual encounter between Winston and the accuser was consensual. Carroll blasted the reliance on Casher and Darby’s affidavits, saying both players were unreliable and inconsistent in their statements.
Meggs announced last week that he did not have enough evidence to charge Winston with a crime.
The timing of Carroll’s press conference appeared calculated with the Heisman Trophy ceremony on Saturday and Winston expected to win the prestigious award. Carroll, though, said the press conference was “not tied to the timing of the Heisman announcement” and came today because she needed sufficient time to review the documents provided by Meggs’ investigation.
