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Updates on the Karlos Williams situation.
Monday, news broke that the Tallahassee Police Department was investigating Florida State running back Karlos Williams for domestic battery. Williams has not been arrested or charged with any crime, but FSU did release a statement regarding the senior.
"The Athletics Department is aware of an investigation by the Tallahassee Police Department involving football student-athlete Karlos Williams. Until we receive more information regarding the alleged incident his status with the team will be under review."
Later Monday, after some news organizations sent public records requests to the Tallahassee Police Department regarding Williams, it was revealed that Williams name existed in the case record of an armed robbery over a drug deal gone bad, in which another man was charged. Williams was not named as a suspect and is not under arrest or charge.
On Tuesday, however, came some clarification on both issues.
The attorney for the purported victim in the domestic battery inquiry issued a statement through her attorney, to the Tallahassee Democrat, indicating that the woman did not file a complaint or ask for an investigation, and that she will not speak with police.
Tallahassee attorney Nathan Prince said he has informally told TPD to stop the investigation and today will formally submit a request terminate it. His client, he said, will not talk to investigators, has not filed a complaint and did not notify TPD or FSU about any alleged domestic battery incident.
The obvious question that follows is who, then, brought this to the attention of the police?
Prince told the Democrat that there are no witnesses that have provided testimony, and that he believes the police were notified due to "internet rumors" of domestic abuse.
Those rumors likely stem from a social media posting from an account associated by the woman which spoke about domestic violence and showed photos of bruises on the right arm of an unidentified person (no face is shown).
The social media message did not identify Williams by name, but did indicate that the bruising came from a man by which she has children. Williams is known to have fathered a child by the woman associated with the account.
Legally speaking: It is not yet publicly known whether the social media post has been authenticated as having come from the woman; whether the photos have been authenticated as timely and not doctored; whether, if the photos are legitimate and timely, the bruising was resulted from aggression or self defense, etc.
The answers to the above issues are particularly important in light of the fact that the woman did not file a complaint. And given that she is unwilling to speak with police, her attorney's belief that there is no probable cause for an arrest seems justified.
Did FSU notify TPD?
ESPN reports that the woman's attorney believes that Florida State passed the social media information on to Tallahassee PD.
"Apparently, FSU passed the information along to the Tallahassee Police Department," Prince said. "There wasn't a formal request by [the woman] to police. I don't know if the administration contacted police and told them they needed to take a look at it."
Not a suspect in the robbery
Tom D'Angelo of the Palm Beach Post spoke with the Assistant State's Attorney regarding the robbery. The ASA told D'Angelo that there is no indication that Williams was involved in the robbery.
Asst. State Attorney tells me no indication K Williams was involved in June robbery "other than suspicion of the victim." #FSU
— Tom D'Angelo (@tomdangelo44) October 28, 2014Victim believes K Williams was involved in setting up robbery. Asst. St. Attorney: "There is no evidence of such." #FSU
— Tom D'Angelo (@tomdangelo44) October 28, 2014The Orlando Sentinel spoke with Williams' attorney, Tim Jansen.
Williams’ attorney, Tim Jansen, said in a statement to the Orlando Sentinel that he was informed by the state attorney’s office Tuesday morning that it was interested in talking to Williams as a potential witness to an armed robbery on June 23, but that Williams "is not a suspect to the armed robbery.""It’s unfortunate that authorities have leaked to the press false and misleading information," Jansen said Tuesday, referring to an ESPN.com report late Monday.
Jansen was also angry about the way some media characterized the matter.
"Using the term ‘associated’ was an inflammatory device to inflame readers," Jansen said. "It’s irresponsible to lead the public to believe the Mr. Williams was somehow involved in the incident. Mr. Williams is not under investigation for any event that occurred last June."