Jameis Winston's Disciplinary Hearing Concludes Without Him Being Questioned: READ His Full Statement
ByJameis Winston's disciplinary hearing at Florida State University (FSU) has ended and he gave a detailed statement denying the allegations against him, but he did not testify.
According to ESPN, Winston declined to answer questions from Major Harding, the former State Supreme Court Justice appointed to preside over the case. He also decided not to answer any questions during cross-examination.
In his statement, obtained by USA Today, ESPN and several other media outlets, Winston claimed to have had consensual sex with the woman who is accusing him of sexual assault. For the first time since the alleged assault in Dec. 2012, Winston detailed his side of the story while still managing to evade questioning.
"I did not rape or sexually assault [the accuser]," Winston said in his statement. "I did not create a hostile, intimidating or offensive environment in the short period of time that we were together. [Name redacted] had the capacity to consent to having sex with me and she repeatedly did so by her conduct and her verbal expressions. I never used physical violence, threats, or other coercive means towards [name redacted]. Finally, I never endangered [name redacted] health, safety, or well-being."
Winston did not answer questions in the initial police investigation and did the same when the Tallahassee State Attorney's Office took over the investigation. The police investigation went nowhere and the State Attorney did not press charges upon reviewing the case.
"We want him to be found responsible and want him to be expelled from school," John Clune, an attorney representing Winston's accuser, told ESPN. "I think knowing the facts of the case and what has been presented, I think there is a very, very good chance of that happening.
"This was not testimony but just something obviously written by his lawyer."
Two of Winston's football teammates, Ronald Darby and Chris Casher, are known witnesses but declined to appear at the hearing. Harding and the FSU disciplinary board will have 10 days to return a decision on Winston's fate at the school, but the Seminoles' QB could of course appeal a decision not in his favor.