Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston, as we know, won’t be charged in that high-profile, sexual-assault case in Tallahassee. Too much is unknown and uncertain. The camera-mugging state attorney, Willie Meggs, made it abundantly clear that the case was closed. No charges filed. End of story.
Not.
Because here’s what we do know. Winston, of course, is not guilty. But he is not “innocent,” the term typically bandied about by the media as the legal antonym of guilty. Innocent has moral connotations–not judicial ones. Whatever actually happened that night involving a young woman, three football players, a cell phone camera and DNA subplots didn’t involve innocence. But revulsion isn’t a felony.
A couple of other points.
What are the odds that behind closed doors and unplugged microphones, the FSU banter has been about much more than “harmful speculation and inappropriate conjecture”–to quote FSU President Eric Barron. I’d guess that a long sigh of relief was followed by a strong scent of outrage, disgust and embarrassment. And maybe even a misgiving or two about the purported Faustian deals some schools have been known to make for prized recruits.
This wasn’t a “boys will be boys” scenario. This wasn’t “youthful indiscretion,” a “one-night stand”–or even a classic “she said, he said” situation. This was shameful behavior that focused on a Heisman Trophy frontrunner and reflected notoriously on all FSU students involved.
And doesn’t this put Johnny Manziel in context?
The Texas A&M quarterback won the Heisman last year and then was all over the news in the off-season for unbecoming behavior. And what was that? He was accused of being immature, acting like a celebrity and possibly trafficking in his own autograph.
FSU would take that in a heartbeat.