Fisher backed his QB Monday and completely believes in his innocence.
Jameis Winston's upcoming disciplinary hearing for potential student code of conduct issues has been known in the public eye since early August, when Winston's alleged sexual assault accuser finally elected to be interviewed by Florida State about the December 2012 incident.
"As disclosed by the complainant's attorney and widely reported in the media, on Aug. 6, 2014--after multiple requests by FSU over the previous 20 months--the attorney agreed to make the complainant available for an interview. Based on her statement, the University reopened a confidential Title IX investigation and, once again, sought a statement from the athlete." --
Florida State releases timeline of events
But the recent news that the hearing will be conducted by a neutral third party, along with reports about the program from Fox Sports and the New York Times, has cast Winston's hearing back into the national spotlight.
On Monday, Jimbo Fisher was asked about the hearing and Winston, his quarterback who was neither arrested nor charged after investigations from the Tallahassee Police Department and the State Attorney's Office. Two witnesses gave sworn statements attesting that Winston did not sexually assault the accuser.
Fisher was asked about his level of concern regarding potentially not having Winston after the Notre Dame game, since penalties range up to a potential expulsion.
"None," Fisher answered in a confident tone. "I know the facts of the case. The facts haven't changed in the case. We know the reports. We know everything that's out there. There's nothing new. We've been through this."
Fisher continued and also ranted about the media passing off opinions as fact and leaving out crucial details.
"There’s nothing new come out. Everyone acts like [all information in the new articles] is earth-shattering. It is concerning, but the facts of the case [haven't changed]– read the report. Read whats there," said Fisher. "The facts are the facts. That’s what they are. And when I see stories written that don’t have all the facts– that paint them towards their side of public opinion– this country is based on being innocent until proven guilty, not guilty until proven innocent. There are two sides of that. I don’t want a victim for anything, but there is no victim because there was no crime. We’re convcting a guy over things that are not true, based on evidence. Now if that continues yea, but there’s no evidence."
Fisher: "This country is based on innocent until proven guilty. Not guilty until proven innocent."
— Tim Linafelt / FSU (@Tim_Linafelt) October 13, 2014Fisher on Winston's hearing: Said he didn't know if date was set, said "get it over with."
— Brendan Sonnone (@osfsu) October 13, 2014"I think we've got to be very careful in today's society to convict people in the public before they actually do in court or anywhere else," Fisher said. "That's happened in recent history and we saw [media] made a huge mistake and ruined a lot of lives. We need to be more responsible in our reporting and our opinions.
"And base (it on) the facts, and not write articles that are half true and not all the way true. And put things out there that are not truthful before we ruin someone's career — based on fact. Not on everyone's opinion and what they think it is." -- Jimbo Fisher on how the media impacts the opinion of the public.
Speaking of the documentsand evidence Fisher implored everyone to read, you can see them below
Read 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)