JimLeavy59
War Hero
The State Attorney's Office investigating the Jameis Winston case has been in contact with the alleged rape victim and plans to interview her soon.
Assistant state attorney Georgia Cappleman said her 2nd Judicial Circuit office received a copy of the statement from the victim's family alleging Tallahassee Police dissuaded the victim's attorney from pursuing the case. The family's attorney notified the State Attorney of the family's plans to release the anonymous statement, which was first reported by the Tampa Bay Times.
“We do plan to talk to her before we make a decision,” said Cappleman, whose office expects to reach a conclusion on the case in the next week or two.
The statement alleges Detective Scott Angulo told the victim's attorney to “think long and hard” about the case because Tallahassee was a “big football town.” The statement also alleges the family had difficulty obtaining DNA and blood samples from the incident, which reportedly occurred Dec. 7.
CBSSports.com has left phone messages with TPD spokesman David Northway and Winston's attorney, Tim Jansen.
State Attorney William Meggs told CBSSports.com last week this case was a ‘cluster' because of the near-year-long gap before his office was aware of the situation.
Winston, the Florida State quarterback, is not expected to speak with the state attorney.
Cappleman said her office prosecutes only when there's sufficient evidence to uphold in a trial.
“Sometimes that's not an easy call to make,” Cappleman said. “I have not made that decision yet. I'm still waiting on a few things to hopefully inform that decision.”
A police officer dissuading a victim from pursuing a case would be unprofessional, said Cappleman, who adds that might not be the case here because the full context is not known. The officer could have been explaining the reality of a potential high-profile case, she said.
“Everybody thinks everything is a big conspiracy, but usually it isn't in my experience,” Cappleman said.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoo...attorney-in-contact-with-alleged-victims-camp
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com...is-winston-assault-case-assault-investigation