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No charges filed against FSU’s Winston
Tampa Tribune ^ | 12/05/13 | Staff Article

Posted on 12/05/2013 11:13:20 AM PST by shortstop

Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston will not be charged with a crime, State Attorney Willie Meggs said Thursday after his office completed an investigation into a sexual assault complaint filed a year ago.

“We’ve carefully examined the evidence in this case and found that no charges will be filed,” Meggs said at a news conference in Tallahassee.

The decision means Winston remains a favorite to win the Heisman Trophy and will be able to continue playing for the No. 1-ranked Seminoles.

According to a January search warrant released hours before Meggs’ announcement, the woman who accused Winston told police she was raped at an apartment after a night of drinking at a bar.

Meggs said there was not enough evidence to bring the case to trial.


TOPICS: Sports
KEYWORDS: fsu; heisman; jameiswinston; rapeclaim
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To: abb

do you not think the States Attorney is aware of that? He categorically stated she was NOT intoxicated at the time…..and he knows about the time line.


81 posted on 12/05/2013 5:56:21 PM PST by C. Edmund Wright (Tokyo Rove is more than a name, it's a GREAT WEBSITE)
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To: C. Edmund Wright

I didn’t watch the presser. What BAC did the State’s Attorney assume at the time of the incident? Or did he say?


82 posted on 12/05/2013 5:57:55 PM PST by abb
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To: abb

He said .04, and in his words, “that’s not very high” - and in context of what he was saying, it meant she was lying when she said her failure to properly remember the details of the night had to do wtih being drunk.

He later said no other drugs were found in the tox test either, meaning she was not slipped a date rape drug of any kind either….


83 posted on 12/05/2013 6:03:19 PM PST by C. Edmund Wright (Tokyo Rove is more than a name, it's a GREAT WEBSITE)
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To: C. Edmund Wright
According to the documents, the BAC at the time of the test was .048%. What hasn't been revealed, at least to my satisfaction, is the time interval between the incident and the BAC test. If that time interval was several hours, then I maintain that she could have been intoxicated.
84 posted on 12/05/2013 6:10:22 PM PST by abb
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To: abb

So what you’re saying is, you know more than a 29 year states attorney on the impact of time lapse and tox tests?????

Mthinks you delusional…...


85 posted on 12/05/2013 6:13:55 PM PST by C. Edmund Wright (Tokyo Rove is more than a name, it's a GREAT WEBSITE)
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To: C. Edmund Wright

Now there’s no need to get fractious.

I’m merely relating to you what the documents at the link report. That’s indisputable evidence. The BAC on the report will be some number less than what it was at an earlier time. If it was an hour, then I agree, she had not had time to sober up and wasn’t very drunk at the time of the encounter.

But if it was six hours, then it becomes another completely different thing.


86 posted on 12/05/2013 6:19:05 PM PST by abb
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To: abb

I’m just stunned that you don’t think the SA realizes this…..and already contemplated it into his decision.


87 posted on 12/05/2013 6:23:09 PM PST by C. Edmund Wright (Tokyo Rove is more than a name, it's a GREAT WEBSITE)
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To: C. Edmund Wright

Nope. I believe nothing any public official tells me, unless it is backed up with documentation.


88 posted on 12/05/2013 6:27:22 PM PST by abb
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To: abb

Well I dont think “to your satisfaction” has a damned thing to do with what the Florida States Atty for Tallahassee has to meet as a burden……and I really think you are foolish for thinking he’s going to lie about a case where he has invited the entire national media to check behind him with the entire evidence of the case.

You really are bizarre on this one…


89 posted on 12/05/2013 6:33:09 PM PST by C. Edmund Wright (Tokyo Rove is more than a name, it's a GREAT WEBSITE)
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To: C. Edmund Wright

Likewise, I suggest your faith in the word of the political class is foolish behavior.


90 posted on 12/05/2013 6:38:34 PM PST by abb
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To: abb

Thats the dumbest post of this thread….it’s not faith in the “political class” - in fact, that’s so stupid I can’t even respond. And it’s not faith in his word, it’s faith in the fact that the entire case will be examined by hundreds and hundreds of reporters under FOI.

Seriously, you have contemplation problems.


91 posted on 12/05/2013 7:18:47 PM PST by C. Edmund Wright (Tokyo Rove is more than a name, it's a GREAT WEBSITE)
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To: C. Edmund Wright

I shall consider it. (evil Spock, Star Trek, Original series)


92 posted on 12/05/2013 8:44:07 PM PST by MPJackal ("From my cold dead hands.")
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To: IrishBrigade

That wasn’t negligence. Any moron with the ability to throw and catch a football knew that it was not safe to be on a 50 foot lift in those winds. But nothing was more important than “the program”. That was a knowing, intentional act that showed depraved indifference to human life. But “the program” is faultless and cannot be wrong by definition.

“negligence” would have required a reasonable person to say, “aww, that’s just a gentle breeze. There’s no risk whatsoever”. That’s not what happened. The worker raised the alarm and was told to get his ass up in the air or find another gig. Because NOTHING is more important than “the program”. Certainly not a human life. And we got the body to prove it.


93 posted on 12/06/2013 6:01:51 AM PST by VideoPaul
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To: VideoPaul

That’s not what happened. The worker raised the alarm and was told to get his ass up in the air or find another gig. Because NOTHING is more important than “the program”. Certainly not a human life. And we got the body to prove it.

...i shall put this to you as charitably as I can...you, sir, have no idea what you’re talking about...and for your own sake, so that perhaps you might spout no more slander on this painful topic, I shall attempt to enlighten you, futile as that prospect may be...

...Declan was not forced by the ‘football program’ to go into the lift that day, nor was any ultimatum between ‘living’ or ‘losing your gig’ issued...you’ve fabricated that out of wholecloth...we can all say that everybody concerned, Declan, his boss the video director, the coaches, the players, the university, should have known the danger the wind presented, and we might be correct in that...but to fit the narrative you’ve chosen to present, the ‘football’ program, and all involved, would have to have shown malicious intent, and have had reason to believe the wind would collapse the crane, with Declan’s death the likely result...a narrative you obviously have no reason to suspect...

...Declan’s family has spoken at great, gut wrenching length about this...and has adopted none of the scurrilous tripe with which you have stained this forum...his own father has maintained, through his most heart felt grief, has pointed no finger in the assignment of blame, that he feels the situation was a tragic accident, that he does not seek forgiveness, because in order to do so, he would have to hold somebody to blame...again, for your own sake, please read the Sullivan family’s own narrative, that you may attain some measure of sanity, and perhaps some notion of the intense pain this has caused...

...for any sane person, reading both the Sullivan’s account and yours, would certainly choose the truth of the bereaved family over the demented ramblings you’ve subjected us to...
and even though I suspect you’ll respond by sticking to your own lunacy about this, I can always hope that you may be moved enough to dispense with your arrogance...


94 posted on 12/06/2013 7:52:05 AM PST by IrishBrigade
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To: IrishBrigade

We will have to agree to disagree about this. You see that football program as infallible and a worker’s death as a cost of doing business for them—regrettable, but paling in comparison to the needs of “the program”. I see it as an unforgivable abrogation of their obligation to protect people that got completely ignored in their zeal to video tape a practice on a windy day when anyone with an IQ above room temperature wouldn’t have even considered asking him to get up in an lift in those conditions. The worker’s own twee t about it _”oh well, i guess I’ve lived long enough” it pretty clear that he wasn’t given a choice. His last tweet—”Holy ____ this is terrifying” is clear that he did not have an option to come down.

Even one of the players wrote about how they lost sight of what was important. While I’m sure “the program” relies on fans like you to keep their sequaky clean image in the face of preventable deaths and rapes, those looking at the facts and the problem of universities that are little more than life support for an athletics program say otherwise.

The late Mr. Declan’s family is entitled to their opinion of fault, but the fact that ND was fined at all says that they were in fact at fault. If ND wasn’t at fault, no fine would have been imposed. Any other organization would have paid many, many times the pittance for a human life ND got fined, but we all know how important “the program” is and how it’s just not acceptable for anything to hurt it.

As I said, we’ll never agree on this topic. We both see each other as wrong and hopelessly myopic. Enjoy the game.


95 posted on 12/06/2013 8:22:40 AM PST by VideoPaul
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To: VideoPaul

For the record, I was incorrect int he amount ND paid, it was 55k for Declan Sullivan’s lost life and some other miscellaneous fines for improper maintenance. In the official report, Indiana OSHA found that ND failed to concern itself with worker safety and failed to properly inspect and maintain its equipment. From the official report: In a statement, IOSHA said that “Notre Dame did not establish and maintain conditions of work that were reasonably safe for its employees that were free from recognized hazards that caused or were likely to cause death or serious injury.” The report specifically cites:

“• Knowingly exposing its employees to unsafe conditions by directing its untrained student videographers to use the scissor lift during a period of time when the National Weather Service issued an active wind advisory with sustained winds and guests in excess of the manufactured specifications and warnings. $55,000 fine.
• Not properly training the student employees in the operation and use of scissor lifts. $5,000 fine.
• Not doing annual, monthly or weekly inspections on the scissor lift for more than a year. $5,000 fine.
• Not having a scissor lift service as required by the maintenance schedule in the operator’s manual. $5,000 fine.
• Not having an operator’s manual kept in a weather-proof box. $5,000 fine.
• Missing some warning labels and having some labels that were weathered and faded. $2,500 fine.”

In addition, part of the family’s statement not only points up that for all of the apologizing, their son is still in fact dead and the hands of those who put football over life, and “the program” is in fact changing its procedures. too bad they didn’t change them before the guy died. From the family’s statement:

“We appreciate the thorough investigation by the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration (IOSHA) concerning the circumstances surrounding the death of our son, Declan. This report is an important step in preventing future accidents, but its findings do not change the fact that Declan is not with us.

Our family supports the efforts by the University of Notre Dame to halt the use of hydraulic lifts to film football practices and install remote-controlled cameras. We are confident that Notre Dame will address the additional issues raised in the IOSHA report.”

One last thought...”the program” failed to inspect that equipment for safety for more than a year. Want to guess how often players’ helmets and pads are inspected by “the program”? I’m willing to bet on “at least once a week”. It is surely more often than they inspected that lift.

As for “scurrilous” and “slander”, when the OSHA report says they KNOWINGLY did things that they KNOWINGLY knew were LIKELY to cause serious death or injury in a finding of facts, my comments are neither scurrilous nor slanderous. That’s the inspectors’ report’s words, not mine. Do you think they would have sent their star quarterback up in that lift in those winds? Hell no, that night have injured a player. It’s really tough to spin that in any way but them knowingly sending a guy up to a dangerous height in high winds in equipment that hadn’t been properly inspected or maintained or even adequately training that worker. That’s being totally indifferent to human life and no, I don’t see any other way to spin that.

And yes, of COURSE they showed all kinds of regret and concern after the guy died. This was a serious, serious situation that required immediate action as it might harm “the program”.

As I said, enjoy the game.


96 posted on 12/06/2013 8:35:42 AM PST by VideoPaul
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To: Crusher138

Yes, the Florida Gaytors are bad, but the Miami Hurrcanes are just a plain, wholesale criminal enterprise.


97 posted on 12/06/2013 8:56:03 AM PST by 2harddrive
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To: nascarnation

He probably meant to type 0.1 percent, the old, pre-MAD DWI standard.


98 posted on 12/06/2013 8:57:31 AM PST by 2harddrive
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To: Crusher138

I would STILL have a hard time resisting a hot 20-year old blond who wanted to play!


99 posted on 12/06/2013 9:05:42 AM PST by 2harddrive
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To: C. Edmund Wright

I’m a tad under-height for my weight, but other than that I have no problems with contemplation, reading comprehension, logic, or any other such intelligence issues.

You really shouldn’t get yourself worked up into such a tizzy over things...


100 posted on 12/06/2013 10:39:55 AM PST by abb
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