TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Nearly a year after Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston was accused of rape by a female FSU student, the state attorney has decided not to charge the Heisman Trophy favorite.

Thursday's decision clears the way for Winston to finish the season with the No. 1 Seminoles.

Willie Meggs, the state attorney for the Second Judicial Circuit, announced the move during a news conference at the Leon County Courthouse. Winston had faced felony charges after being accused of sexually assaulting the woman at an off-campus apartment on Dec. 7, 2012.

"We've carefully examined all the evidence in this case and have concluded that no charges will be filed against anyone in this case," Meggs said.

Meggs and his office had been investigating the case for the past three weeks, and they interviewed the accuser about two weeks ago. Last month, ESPN.com reported that DNA found in the woman's underwear matched Winston's. His attorney, Tim Jansen of Tallahassee, said Winston had consensual sex with the woman. But the woman's attorney, Patricia Carroll of Tampa, Fla., said Winston raped her 19-year-old client, who withdrew from classes after the allegations resurfaced in media reports last month.

"We have a duty as prosecutors to determine if each case has a reasonable likelihood of conviction," Meggs said. "After reviewing the facts in this case, we do not feel that we can reach those burdens."

While the case could be reopened if new evidence is found, Meggs indicated that he "had no earthly idea what that would be."

Carroll released a statement shortly after Meggs spoke.

"The victim and her family appreciate the state attorney's efforts in attempting to conduct a proper investigation after an inordinate delay by the Tallahassee Police Department," the statement said. "The victim in this case had the courage to immediately report her rape to the police and she relied upon them to seek justice. The victim has grave concerns that her experience, as it unfolded in the public eye and through social media, will discourage other victims of rape from coming forward and reporting."

After hearing Meggs' decision, Jansen said of his client: "He's absolutely innocent, and I'm glad and pleased that Willie did a full investigation and found the same thing we did. There's no evidence. He could not go forward with any charges."

He also said that he had spoken to Winston.

"He was really happy. He's relieved it's over, and now he's focused even more on football," Jansen said.

Winston also released a statement, saying: "It's been difficult to stay silent through this process, but I never lost faith in the truth and in who I am."

Jansen said that Winston's legal team has considered legal action.

"His reputation is important to him," he said. "His career is important to him." He added that certain organizations have done improper things, without naming those organizations.

Earlier, Meggs was asked whether Winston, possibly the most identifiable player in college football this year, received preferential treatment in the case.

"We try to treat everyone fairly, and I think we have a track record of doing that," he said.

Meggs wouldn't say whether his decision was a vindication for Winston, saying he would "leave that to you all after you review the facts."

He did reveal some new information, saying that while Winston's DNA was present in the sexual assault kit, the DNA of another male was also found, complicating the investigation. That person was identified as the accuser's boyfriend, and he was not associated with the complaint, Meggs said.

Meggs added that the accuser had no outward signs of trauma, a key point in trying to prove an assault, and that documents related to the case were being released.

Search warrants in the case were released before Meggs' announcement and indicate the woman told police she was raped at an apartment after a night of drinking. In the warrant, the accuser says she and friends had shots at a local bar and her "memory is very broken from that point forward."

Meggs said that toxicology reports show the accuser had a blood alcohol level of .04 and that there was no evidence of drugs, including what are commonly referred to as date rape drugs.

According to the warrants, the accuser says she remembers being in a cab with a man and going into an apartment before she was raped. Meggs said investigators could not find the cab driver, the attempt made much more difficult by the time that had elapsed before his office began investigating.

After that, the accuser said she remembers the suspect dressing her, putting her on a scooter and dropping her off at an intersection, but she had no idea where the alleged rape occurred.

"Her recall of the events of that night have been moving around quite a bit," Meggs said.

Meggs described the accuser as being as forthcoming as she could be but that she did want to protect "herself, her family, her own name," which he said is not uncommon in sexual assault investigations. The accuser's lack of recall proved to be another critical aspect in the state's decision not to move forward, Meggs said.

Meggs said he didn't think prosecutors could put the accuser on the stand and "count on her to prove elements of a crime."

After praising Meggs for his investigation, Jansen said he wished Meggs had spoken about the affidavits from witnesses who refuted the accuser's claims. He said that three other men were present in the apartment where the accuser said she was raped. When asked whether those were also football players, he said that was a "good bet."

Two of Winston's teammates backed his story in statements they gave last month to an investigator for Jansen. The statements were part of an investigative file released Thursday.

Teammates Chris Casher and Ronald Darby said they were at a bar with Winston when the accuser struck up a conversation with the quarterback and got into a cab with the three men.

Once at the apartment, the teammates said they peeked through Winston's bedroom door and saw the woman having sex with the quarterback. At one point, Casher said, he "busted into the room to embarrass Jameis" and the woman yelled at him to "get out."

In a later interview with police, Casher changed this part of his story, saying he went into the room because he hoped the woman would also have sex with him, something he said had happened in the past when he and Winston brought a woman to the apartment.

Casher left the room and was not accused of having sex with the woman, and no other women have made accusations against Casher or Darby.

If Winston, a redshirt freshman from Bessemer, Ala., had been charged with a felony, he would have been immediately suspended from the team and ineligible for competition under FSU athletic department policy. Now, Winston can finish the season with the Seminoles, who are heavy favorites to defeat No. 20 Duke in Saturday night's ACC championship game in Charlotte, N.C.

With one more victory, the Seminoles (12-0) would punch their ticket to the Jan. 6 Vizio BCS National Championship.

Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher issued a statement Thursday afternoon:

"As you might imagine, I was pleased to hear that the state attorney's office exonerated Jameis in the matter. I'm not going to answer any questions about the situation, but I would like to point out that our community and our university are blessed to have really good people in place to review matters like this. I know Jameis is pleased he can focus on being a student at a great university and he's excited about helping our team achieve its goals this year. Right now, we're all looking forward to what we have in front of us on Saturday."

Fisher later said he addressed the team before practice Thursday and told it no charges were filed against Winston, who was in attendance.

"Yes he was," the coach said. "He's preparing very well, and you see the same guy leading his teammates and happy to be on the field."

Asked how the freshman quarterback handled the situation so well, the coach said, "He's very mature. He has ability, he has strength in his beliefs and what he does, and he's very mature that way. A lot of grown-ups can't do that. He can prioritize and compartmentalize when he has to do something."

The accuser initially reported the alleged rape to FSU police on the night in question. Because the incident took place off campus, FSU police immediately referred the case to Tallahassee police.

The woman's attorney has been critical of the way Tallahassee police handled the case from the beginning. In a statement released two weeks ago, Carroll wrote that a TPD officer told her that Tallahassee is a "big football town, and the victim needs to think long and hard before proceeding against [Winston] because she will be raked over the coals and her life will be made miserable."

Last week, Tallahassee police issued a timeline of the case and defended their handling of the investigation. According to the timeline, TPD said the woman didn't identify Winston as her alleged attacker until Jan. 10, more than a month after the incident. Tallahassee police said evidence from the woman's rape kit was sent to the state crime lab on Jan. 15, and Winston declined to be interviewed by police on Jan. 23.

In February, Tallahassee police put the case in "open/inactive" status because they said the accuser decided she didn't wish to press charges. Carroll has vehemently denied the woman ever wanted to drop the investigation.

As for the delay in the case reaching the state attorney's office, Meggs said: "Obviously it would have been somewhat better if we had all gotten into this case a little bit earlier. Time is important, and it certainly would have been nice" to know last December what prosecutors know now.

Meggs said that football discussions played no part in the investigation.

Winston, who has passed for 3,490 yards with 38 touchdowns and five interceptions in his first season as a starter, might become the second consecutive freshman to win the Heisman. Last season, Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Johnny Manziel became the first freshman to win college football's most coveted individual honor. Many Heisman voters were waiting to learn the results of the criminal investigation before casting their ballots. The deadline for ballots to be turned in is Monday.

Without referencing Winston, Florida State president Dr. Eric Barron issued a statement saying the school's job is to educate but that it also has a "responsibility to treat students fairly and provide appropriate support."

"Recent weeks have provided a painful lesson, as we have witnessed harmful speculation and inappropriate conjecture about this situation and the individuals involved," the statement said. "As a result, we have all been hurt. A respect for the principle of due process is essential to the integrity of our community. Our commitment to each and every one of our students is unwavering and will remain our priority."

Information from ESPN.com's David Hale and The Associated Press was used in this report.

All this proves is that Florida has the worst judiciary system in the world. An embarrassment.

Would you like my opinion from the law enforcement perspective?

yea......

From the law enforcement perspective:

The case had several twists recently that begin to raise questions against the accuser. Here is quick recap of what we know, minus as much speculation as possible.


• Incident happened 11 months ago (a year ago Dec. 7)

• The alleged "victim" claimed she had 5 or 6 shots of alcohol that night, but the bartender said she only had one, and her blood alcohol level was .10 (slightly above Florida'a legal limit)

• There was a relationship between Winston and the alleged victim.

• DNA test, was leaked by an unknown source, matches Winston

• Jansen, Winston's attorney, says that the defense has never said that his client didn't have sex with the accuser.

• Accuser has made claims that the TPD told her not to pursue the case against Winston because Tallahassee is a "football town" and the backlash would be huge, and she would be 'raked over the coals'.

• We now know that whoever leaked the story to the Tampa Tribune had the actual case number. This indicates that it would most likely be somebody close to the case. Otherwise they would have just said, "Look for any case involving the FSU football player named Jameis Winston." TMZ got a hold of the case by doing just that. Searching public records with Winston in the report.

Now for the un-confirmed side of the story. Meaning that I won't believe it until I get it from the State Attorney or one of the two other lawyers involved (and as of right now, I have a hard time believing the accuser's lawyer). Remember these next few points are NOT confirmed, but the signs are there to support that there is some truth to them.


• Winston's Attorney may have text messages between Winston and the Accuser.

• There have been reports of phone records indicating the accuser has tried calling Winston several times AFTER the alleged assault took place.

• Details from the Rape Kit have shown very minimal to no evidence of forced action (unless there is more we aren't being told at this point).

• The two witnesses, that Jansen has referenced several times, we have heard that one is a football player, and the other is? Some reports have said that it was the accuser's roommate, and some have said that it was just another football player. Jansen has not commented on the identity of his witnesses (which by the way, is very professional and by the book). Funny how that info isn't being leaked.

• Un-confirmed reports have said that the night this all happened, the accuser actually began to throw punches at Winston after she found out that Winston had another girlfriend. The story goes on to say that it was her roommate and Winston's roommate that had to pull her off of Winston. And this is why she might have bruising or other signs of forceful action.


Interesting. And we all still have so many questions. One question I have been asking since the story broke and the accuser withdrew from FSU almost three weeks ago is, "Why did she stay on campus for TWO MORE SEMESTERS after she was 'raped'?" First off, why would she want to be anywhere near her attacker? Then, why would she go to Florida State games and cheer on the football team lead by her alleged attacker? Perhaps the bigger question. Why would her family, especially her father, allow her to stay at FSU when it appeared that Winston was never going to face charges? I'm not a father, but I know I wouldn't allow my child to continue to go to that college with the alleged attacker being on campus at the same time. And you better believe I wouldn't have waited ELEVEN MONTHS before going to the media or making some phone calls to the police department. The reports of the accuser breaking off contact with police are very accurate. Phone records show no calls between the accuser and the police department over those months (other than what we have been told, a couple calls made between the incident and February). Think about this, if you had a loved-one that was sexually assaulted, would you let it sit for nearly a year? Or would you be talking with the investigation AT LEAST once a month until this investigation was completed or escalated to the next level?


My thoughts on this? Yeah, I think the reason it is taking State Attorney Meggs so long to get to his decision is because he can't find enough of anything to charge Winston. In other words, Meggs is making sure he has done everything in his power to make sure the investigation will be thorough and just, before he makes his decision. The accuser's attorney will 'scream' as loud as the media will allow her to when Winston is exonerated. Meggs will go through some scrutiny from the accuser and her family. But in the end, he made the right decision. Then, the next item to take care of will be possible charges against Winston's accuser. Yes, that's speculation at this point, but it is a real possibility.

he won the heisman last night lol