Coach Jimbo Fisher believes that QB Jameis Winston has not committed any crime. He also think that the Florida State player will not miss any games this season due to an ongoing sexual assault investigation.
Fisher said that reports of the investigation have not yielded any fruitful facts as of now. He said "his country is based off being innocent until proven guilty, not guilty till you're proven innocent. There is no victim because there was no crime. We're convicting a guy over things that are not true, based on evidence."
He adds "There's facts of the case and what the reports are. Public opinion wants to do what they do. They don't get what they want. ... We believe in him, 100 percent."
Florida State announced that they will use an independent body in the student code to conduct the investigation.
It can be remembered that Winston was accused by a female student of sexual assault last Dec 2012. Florida State Attorney Willie Meggs has declined to press charges then due to lack of concrete evidence.
The coach on the other hand warned the public jumping to conclusions about the ongoing investigation. He said "'I think what we've got be very careful in today's society to convict people in public before their actual due in court or anywhere else. That's happened in recent history and we saw we made a huge mistake and ruined a lot of lives."
"So I think we need to be more responsible in our reporting, opinions and based off facts and not write articles that are half true and not all the way true."
Fisher lauded Winston for being able to focus and excel in the field despite the challenges he is facing saying "He can put things away like a man does, compartmentalize things, take care of his teammates, take care of his family and take care of everyone because he's very mature,'' Fisher said. ''And the reason he can do that is he knows the facts."
On the other hand the Florida State is backing up Winston in his case. The University has sent out a statement with regards to the case saying "The University has remained silent for one reason: To protect our students, who are after all our highest priority. But as we expect other stories to appear, it is abundantly clear that the continual drumbeat of misinformation about the University's actions causes harm to our students, faculty, alumni, supporters and the FSU community as a whole. Because of this, and within the constraints of state and federal privacy laws, we want to share with you more detail to set the record straight."
