Jameis Winston Disciplinary Case to Be Heard By One of Three Former Florida Supreme Court Judges
ByFlorida State University (FSU) has reportedly chosen three former State Supreme Court Judges to be considered to hear Jameis Winston's upcoming disciplinary case.
According to ESPN, Winston and the former FSU student who accused him of sexually assaulting her will be able to each eliminate one candidate from consideration. Neither party is allowed to have any interaction with the judges.
In the even both Winston and the alleged victim choose the same judge, FSU will decide between the remaining two. The school has reportedly notified Winston in a letter of the disciplinary hearing, though the date is not yet known. The reigning Heisman Trophy winning quarterback could face up to four student conduct code violations.
The chosen judge will help determine what to charge Winston with, if anything, and what his punishment should be. The former FSU student claimed Winston sexually assaulted her in Dec. 2012 and complaint became public nearly a year later.
ESPN cited "people familiar with the case" who identified the following:
Major Harding, 79
Joseph Hatchett, 82
Charles T. Wells, 75
FSU is under federal investigation by the U.S. Education Department's Office for Civil Rights for allegedly mishandling Winston's accuser's complaint. The Tallahassee Police Department also faced heavy scrutiny for allegedly letting the case go idle for several months and performing a lackluster investigation.
Willie Meggs, a state attorney in Tallahassee, ruled last year that Winston would face no criminal charges due to a lack of evidence. The New York Times published an investigative piece in April that outlines several failures in the investigation, a possible reason Winston saw no charges.
Last week, the Times released another report, this one depicting a pattern of law enforcement and school administrators of going easy on FSU football players.
Winston's hearing is not expected to take place before Saturday's game against fifth-ranked Notre Dame.
"To ensure an absolutely fair and impartial process, and to avoid any conflict created by the ongoing federal investigation and threatened civil litigation, the university will appoint an independent hearing officer to investigate and make findings regarding this matter," Browning Brooks, an FSU spokeswoman told ESPN. "The use of an outside hearing officer is allowed under FSU procedures. Out of fairness to the students involved, we are exercising this option to remove any doubt about the integrity of the eventual outcome."