I think a lot of people have been quick to jump to Winston's side in this.. Of course if it is a false accusation and the sex was consensual, then this woman is trying to ruin Winston's life.  

 

The police owed it to both Winston and the woman to better investigate this.  Instead they thought they could sweep it under the rug.  They did Winston no favors by doing so.  And they certainly didn't do the woman any justice.  

 

I don't think you can conclude that she decided to go for a money grab, or that she regretted having sex with him after the fact.  At this point, there's not much we can conclude. People love jumping to conclusions with rape cases, and it's absolutely appalling.  For both sides.  Rape cases should be taken seriously.  Football player or not.  It's going to turn into a 'he said, she said'.  I don't think Winston will end up being found guilty -- but I'm not sure if that's because he's not or not.    


I'm sure the Winston camp will come out and say it was consensual.  It's curious that the lawyer didn't have Winston do that when he was informed of the case initially.  Along with witnesses to back up Winston's story -- who'd have the incident still fresh on their mind.  But I guess he thought it could just 'go away'.  Whether he let Winston know or not will probably never be known.  

 

To side with either person at this point is jumping to conclusions.  Too many people are willing to proclaim him guilty from the get go, and too many people are willing to proclaim her as an accuser who regretted having sex after the fact.  A lot of people are looking at it as Winston losing out on the heisman.  But if it was sexual assault then the woman has been damaged a lot more than losing a heisman.  

 

One thing that can be said of this case -- is that the police department did an awful job all around.  Accusations of rape should be taken seriously -- always.  It's why so many rapes go unreported.  When it's taken seriously, the facts can be better gathered.  

---