For years Jameis Winston, Heisman quarterback from Florida State University, has defended himself after being accused of raping a fellow student. Bobby Bowden – legendary Florida State coach – said “he was an embarrassment in a lot of ways to the university.” Now the number one NFL rookie in the country, Winston is now taking the position of offense: he has filed a counter suit against his accuser.
But I worry this sets a dangerous precedent. Is this the lawyers’ way of telling her, ‘Sit down and shut up honey or we are going to ruin your life.’ It’s a very scary threat. My co-host on Dare We Say, Shawna Vercher, disagrees, “What if he really didn’t do this? Isn’t it time for him to start fighting back?”
Critics have long cited a sloppy investigation by the Tallahassee police department as evidence that Winston received preferential treatment as a football star. Shawna cautioned that most of the media is looking at it wrong. “It’s not one or the other…There could have been a terrible investigation AND her story could be untrue. We need to separate the two ideals.”
But as we know, regardless of what happened in this incident, and we don’t have the evidence to prove the truth one way or the other (thanks to the behavior of the authorities, we likely never will), the vast majority of sexual assault allegations are proven true. Those that are even reported, that is. If Mr. Winston’s accuser loses here, will this be used as a way to say all women who accuse someone of rape are playing false?
Listen as Shawna and I discuss the ramifications of this latest development on Dare We Say.
