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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.
5:19 Update: The Accuser's original attorney has released a statement that is not responsive to the claims made by Cornwell, including the alleged "black boy" comment.
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3:37 Update
Winston's attorney fired back at comments (below) from the accuser's attorneys.
Tries to extort a 20yr old college student for $7million .... and I'm unprofessional. #priceless
— David Cornwell (@wmdavidcornwell) September 24, 2014Hmmmm...why no denial of $7million demand? #sirwalterscottandtangledwebs
— David Cornwell (@wmdavidcornwell) September 24, 2014
Will provide FSU with evidence exposing latest their latest lie.
— David Cornwell (@wmdavidcornwell) September 24, 20142:22 Update
Brendan Sonnone of the Orlando Sentinel, has a longer statement from the accuser's attorneys, who fire back with some accusations of their own.
"Settlement discussions were immediately unproductive as Cornwell was crude and insulting going so far as to say ‘your client likes to [expletive] football players.' When told that the client's main concern was not money but that Winston be held accountable for his actions, Cornwell threatened to sue our client and her parents for civil racketeering in an effort to intimidate them into staying quiet. After learning about Mr. Cornwell's unprofessional conduct at that meeting from Ms. Carroll, our office has decidedly not engaged with Mr. Cornwell at all or anyone else on Mr. Winston's behalf. Although it our understanding that settlement was discussed, no authorized demands were made of Mr. Winston.
Matt Baker of the Tampa Bay Times reached out to the Accuser's Title IX attorneys, who responded to Cornwell's claims.
Winston's accuser hired two high-profile Title IX attorneys — Colorado-based John Clune and Baine Kerr.
"The facts that Mr. Cornwell chose not to disclose are that it was he himself who reached out to our client's former counsel Patricia Carroll to discuss paying off our client," Clune said in an email. "Patricia Carroll didn't even know who David Cornwell was until he called. Mr. Cornwell then himself flew down from Atlanta to negotiate with Ms. Carroll."
10:51 Update: Jimbo Fisher on the ACC Conference Call acknowledged that he is aware of the letter, but has not had time to delve into the details. Fisher said that Winston handles all the distractions well, and that limiting his media availability does help him focus on the important stuff. Fisher also confirmed that he was unaware of the letter before the reports.
10:30 Update: I reached out to Patricia Carroll, the attorney for the accuser. A representative said that they had no comment at this time but will release a statement Thursday.
Original story
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." -- Sports Illustrated, December 5, 2013.
On Tuesday, the following tweet came from the twitter account of Winston's attorney.
Today, wIll advise FSU that JW will cooperate with Title 9 investigation. Looks forward to clearing his name.
— David Cornwell (@wmdavidcornwell) September 23, 2014Read the documents released by investigators, which include multiple drug and toxicity screenings showing neither drugs (including "date rape" drugs) nor an excessive amount of alcohol, and decide for yourself: Newlin's investigative report (.pdf) Investigative report (.pdf) Investigative report II (.pdf)