A report that surfaced early Thursday morning has prompted the attorney for Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston to go on the public offensive.
Maintaining his client’s innocence, Tim Jansen was highly critical of the leak that led to the results of a DNA test being made public by ESPN.com overnight, the Tallahassee Democrat reported. The test, which compared a sample of DNA taken from the alleged victim’s underwear to a sample of Winston’s DNA the player voluntarily gave authorities a week ago in Tallahassee, showed that the odds the DNA came from someone other than Winston to be one in 2.2 trillion, ESPN.com reported.
“We are not surprised with the results of the DNA,” Jansen said according to the Democrat. “The only thing we are surprised by is it was leaked out by law enforcement.”
Jansen told reporters Thursday morning outside of the Leon County Courthouse that he has not seen the results of the DNA test. According to Jansen, therefore, the leak could’ve only come from one of three law enforcement entities: the Tallahassee Police Department, which investigated the initial complaint of sexual assault last December and obtained the DNA swab from Winston last Thursday; the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which conducted the DNA analysis; or the state’s attorney office, which was forwarded the complaint last week and opened its own investigation.
Jansen, though, intimated who he suspects is the source of the leak.
Jameis Winston attorney says http://t.co/LXBBrC7O40 was the only national media outlet to have met Wednesday with State Attorney's Office.
— Jeffrey Burlew (@JeffBurlew) November 21, 2013
In ESPN.com‘s early-morning report, state’s attorney Willie Meggs, who is in charge of the current investigation into the complaint, was quoted by the author during an interview that took place Wednesday but prior to the release of the results by the website. “Meggs couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on the DNA report Wednesday night,” the website wrote.
“It’s not fair to Mr. Winston. His reputation has been tarnished. It’s been all over the airwaves,” Jansen said of the leak.
As expected, Jansen acknowledged a sexual encounter between his client and the alleged victim but said it was “absolutely” consensual. Two eyewitnesses, one of whom Jansen stated also submitted a DNA example, would exonerate his client of any wrongdoing, the lawyer said.
The alleged victim is scheduled to meet with investigators Thursday, ESPN.com wrote in its report.
