Jameis Winston Will Not Know State Attorney's Decision For At Least Another 2 Weeks

William Meggs is going to need more time than he originally estimated for his decision on how to proceed in the sexual assault case involving Jameis Winston, ESPN reported.

Nearly two weeks ago, Meggs, the state attorney for the Second Judicial Circuit in Tallahassee, Fla., said his decision would be finalized in a week or the one after. His self-suggested timeline is just about up and now he said he will need another two weeks to decide whether or not to file criminal charges against Winston.

Tim Jansen, Winston's attorney, said he was troubled to hear this and has since met with Meggs to ask for an expedition on the decision. Jansen said he wants the "cloud" over his client lifted as soon as possible.

"We expressed our concerns that the delay would affect Mr. Winston's reputation, voters in the Heisman and Florida State's ability to go to the national championship game," Jansen said Wednesday. "We're hoping this cloud can be lifted sooner rather than later."

Winston is currently leading the Florida State University (FSU) Seminoles to a potential BCS National Championship game and is a leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy. The timeline for Meggs' decision is now somewhere between when Heisman final votes are cast on Dec. 9 and when the winner is announced on Dec. 14.

Meggs told the Associated Press last week he still had "four or five things" to take care of before making his decision. It is unclear what those "things" are, though one of them was likely speaking with the alleged victim. Shortly after the Tallahassee Police Department (TPD) turned the case over to his office, Meggs said he had yet to speak to Winston, or the accuser and wished to do so.

It was not until last week that reports surfaced stating the alleged victim, who filed her incident report in Dec. and named Winston in Jan., met with Meggs.

It is still not clear why the TPD waited 11 months to reactivate the case, though some speculation is they did so because TMZ and the Tampa Bay Times began requesting information on the case, not knowing it involved Winston.

There is also a chance that Meggs' decision comes after the Heisman award ceremony, so the timing is especially tight. As ESPN's Brett McMurphy pointed out on Twitter, Heisman trustees may decide what to do if Winston is charged with anything after voting is closed, citing a Heisman coordinator.