Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston and the woman claiming he raped her while both were students at Florida State in 2012 have settled a civil lawsuit, according to court documents.
“[A]ll counsel report the parties have reached a compromise with contingencies and anticipate filing a joint motions for dismissal within 20 days,” state documents filed in a Florida District Court on Dec. 14. The case had been scheduled to go to trial on April 3.
John Clune, an attorney for Erica Kinsman, Winston’s accuser, later confirmed to ESPN, “The case has been resolved to the satisfaction of the parties.”
Neither Clune nor representatives for Winston have elaborated on the terms of the settlement, which was reached less than two years after Kinsman filed court papers in April 2015.
The lawsuit claimed Winston intentionally inflicted emotional distress on Kinsman during the 2012 incident, and also accused the 2013 Heisman Trophy winner of assault and false imprisonment.
At the time of the filing, Winston’s attorney David Cornwell called it a “stunt” and a “ploy to distract” Winston, who was preparing to enter the NFL draft. Cornwell also continued to reject Kinsman’s accusations that allege Winston drugged and raped her on the floor of his apartment’s bathroom the night of Dec. 7, 2012.
While The Post doesn’t normally identify alleged victims of sexual assaults, Kinsman went public last year when she told her story in the controversial documentary “The Hunting Ground,” which aired on CNN in November. Days before it aired, Winston threatened to sue the news network over the documentary, which his attorneys described as “defamatory.” Winston did not appear to follow up with a filing.
Winston did file a counterclaim to Kinsman’s civil suit in May 2015. This counterclaim alleged Kinsman fabricated the accusations “to vilify Mr. Winston with the objective of getting him to pay her to go away.”
Kinsman, who dropped out of FSU because of the ordeal, said she was “happy” with the federal settlement’s terms.
She has not publicly commented on the outcome of her civil suit.
Winston, meanwhile, who was never charged with a crime in the alleged incident, is currently in his second season at Tampa Bay, the 8-5 Bucs next face the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
(c) 2016, The Washington Post ยท Marissa Payne
