Lawyer David Cornwell has vowed for months that, if Erica Kinsman sues quarterback Jameis Winston for sexual assault, Winston will file a counterclaim -- lawyer talk meaning that he’ll sue her, too. That happened on Friday, the first day of Winston’s first NFL practice with the Buccaneers.
The full document, a copy of which PFT has obtained, comes out swinging from page one, asserting that Winston “did not rape” Kinsman and accusing her of giving “many different and inconsistent accounts of her sexual encounter with Mr. Winston.” After listing the various entities and persons who have considered and rejected the claim, Winston declares in bold type and underline that “Ms. Kinsman is 0 for 6.”
Winston contends that Kinsman has been successful in one way -- by launching a “false and vicious media campaign to vilify Mr. Winston with the objective of getting him to pay her to go away.”
The document also accuses Kinsman of tampering with witnesses, interfering with criminal investigations, and manufacturing “new false assertions each time a prior lie was rebutted by the truth.”
Next, the document filed in federal court contains a full description of the December 6-7, 2012 interaction between Winston and Kinsman, with fairly graphic details about their sexual encounter.
Then, the document lists the alleged lies told by Erica Kinsman, including a claim that “some dude hit her on the head” and that when she regained consciousness a man was on top of her, that she had been drugged, that she had memory loss due to “trauma,” and that she had been “taken” and “coerced” into a taxi that took her to Winston’s apartment.
After answering the various allegations contained in the complaint and asserting other defenses to the lawsuit, Winston sues Kinsman for defamation of character and tortious interference with prospective business advantage -- lawyer talk meaning that she allegedly attempted to undermine his ability to obtain endorsement deals.
The case will now proceed, with Kinsman pursuing her claims against Winston and Winston pursuing his claims against Kinsman and the case destined to linger in the court system for months. Absent a settlement, a jury trial seems inevitable.
