Jameis Winston Allegations: FSU Case, Uber Incident, Lawsuits

Jameis Winston has faced two significant sexual misconduct allegations during his football career: a December 2012 rape accusation by a Florida State University student named Erica Kinsman, and a March 2016 groping accusation by an Uber driver in Scottsdale, Arizona. The Winston allegations never produced criminal charges. The 2012 case ended with prosecutors declining to charge him, a university hearing clearing him, and civil settlements with both FSU and Kinsman. The 2016 case ended with a three-game NFL suspension and a settled civil lawsuit. Winston has consistently maintained his innocence in the rape case and apologized to the Uber driver.

The 2012 Rape Allegation at Florida State

On December 7, 2012, Kinsman reported to Tallahassee campus police that she had been raped by a stranger after a night at a Tallahassee bar called Potbelly’s.¹ She did not initially know her attacker’s name. In January 2013, she recognized Winston in a class and identified him to police.²

Winston acknowledged having sexual contact with Kinsman but said it was consensual. For most of the proceedings he spoke only through his attorneys. His lawyer David Cornwell said, “We don’t need an investigation, thorough or otherwise, to know that Jameis did not sexually assault this young lady.”³ Winston declined to speak to police during the criminal investigation and declined an interview request from FSU officials in January 2014 on the advice of counsel.

Why Prosecutors Declined to Charge Winston

State Attorney Willie Meggs announced on December 5, 2013 that his office would not file charges. He said the facts did not meet the threshold for a reasonable likelihood of conviction and pointed to several problems:⁴

Kinsman had no outward signs of physical trauma.
Her recollection of the night had, in Meggs’s words, been “moving around quite a bit.”
Winston’s DNA was in the sexual assault kit, but so was the DNA of Kinsman’s boyfriend, which complicated the forensic picture.
Her blood alcohol level was .04 and tests showed no date-rape drugs.
The passage of time between the incident and prosecutors’ involvement had hurt the case.

Meggs said the football team’s schedule and Winston’s performance did not factor into the decision.⁵ In the documentary “The Hunting Ground,” he later said police delays had “hampered” his office’s investigation and that while he lacked the evidence to prove a crime, he believed “things that happened there that night were not good.”⁶

The Police Investigation Was Widely Criticized

Tallahassee Police Department’s handling of the case drew sharp criticism from prosecutors and journalists. Lead investigator Officer Scott Angulo moved the case to “open/inactive” status in February 2013, just weeks after Winston was identified, and it sat dormant for nine months. It was only reopened in November 2013 after a reporter requested the records.²

In a 2015 deposition, Angulo admitted he never interviewed eyewitnesses from the bar, never sought surveillance video from Potbelly’s, never tried to identify a cab driver who may have transported Kinsman, and never pursued phone records for Winston or his associates. Investigators contacted Winston’s attorney Tim Jansen rather than approaching Winston directly, and Jansen declined to make Winston available.²

A FOX Sports report alleged that Winston’s defense received police reports before State Attorney Meggs was notified, and that two teammates who were present during the alleged assault signed affidavits supporting Winston before police could interview them.⁷ Meggs said this allowed the defense to begin “preparing a defense before we even know there’s a case.”

The FSU Student Conduct Hearing

FSU did not hold its Title IX hearing until early December 2014, nearly two years after the incident. Federal guidelines suggest such investigations should wrap up within 60 days; FSU did not even meet with Kinsman until August 2014.⁸ Kinsman’s attorney John Clune said the hearing was “almost two years late” and had “kept Mr. Winston playing football.”⁹

Retired Florida Supreme Court Justice Major Harding presided. Kinsman testified. Winston did not appear in person, instead submitting a written statement with what Harding called a “graphic account” of what Winston described as consensual sex. It was the first time Winston had personally offered his version of events.¹⁰ Harding wrote that he “couldn’t find with any confidence that either version is more probable than not,” clearing Winston under the preponderance-of-evidence standard.¹¹ Kinsman’s attorneys called the finding “not a decision at all but a statement that the judge couldn’t decide.”

The Civil Lawsuits and Settlements

Kinsman filed a Title IX lawsuit against Florida State University in January 2015, alleging the school was “deliberately indifferent” to her complaint and fostered a “hostile educational environment.” The suit claimed the athletic department and coach Jimbo Fisher withheld the allegation from the university’s Title IX coordinator.¹²

FSU settled in January 2016 for $950,000, funded by the State of Florida’s Risk Management Fund.¹ With $1.7 million in defense costs added, FSU’s total exposure exceeded $2.6 million.¹² The university committed to a five-year sexual assault awareness, prevention, and training program with annual public reports. FSU said the settlement was not an admission of wrongdoing.¹³

Kinsman also sued Winston personally in April 2015 in U.S. District Court in Orlando, alleging sexual battery, assault, false imprisonment, and emotional distress.¹⁴ Winston countersued in May 2015, alleging that Kinsman’s “false and defamatory statements” had “maliciously and impermissibly interfered” with his business and personal relationships. He sought $75,000 in actual damages plus punitive damages and claimed her attorneys had demanded $7 million to settle. The countersuit characterized her accusations as motivated by “greed.”¹⁵

Both suits were resolved on December 14, 2016 under confidential terms. An attorney for Kinsman said the case was “resolved to the satisfaction of the parties.”¹⁶

The 2016 Uber Driver Incident and NFL Suspension

In March 2016, a female Uber driver identified in court filings as “Kate P.” alleged that Winston reached over and groped her, pressing his fingers against her crotch over her clothing while she drove him through a Scottsdale, Arizona restaurant drive-thru. She texted her boyfriend immediately after, saying she had been “semi-molested by the Tampa Bay Buc QB.”¹⁷ Winston denied touching her inappropriately.¹⁸

The NFL spent eight months investigating and concluded Winston had engaged in “detrimental conduct” by “touching the driver in an inappropriate and sexual manner without her consent.” On June 28, 2018 the league suspended him for three games for violating the personal conduct policy, which cost him $124,411 in game checks. Winston did not appeal, and the league described the outcome as a negotiated settlement. He was also required to complete a clinical evaluation and a therapeutic intervention program.¹⁹

Winston issued a public apology: “I’m sorry to the Uber driver for the position I put you in. It is uncharacteristic of me and I genuinely apologize.” He said he had “eliminated alcohol from my life.”²⁰

The driver filed a civil suit in September 2018 in U.S. District Court in Arizona, seeking more than $75,000 for emotional distress and therapy expenses.¹⁷ By late November 2018, court filings indicated the parties were finalizing a settlement, expected to close within about 10 days. Terms were not disclosed.²¹

Other Off-Field Incidents at FSU

Winston accumulated several lesser incidents during college:

In November 2012, campus police stopped Winston and teammate Chris Casher for shooting pellet guns at squirrels on a bike trail after a bystander reported what looked like a firearm. They were released without charges. Two days later, a BB gun battle at Winston’s apartment complex broke 13 windows; FSU arranged for the players to pay for the damage and no charges were filed.²²²³
In April 2014, Winston was cited for leaving a Tallahassee Publix without paying for $32.72 in crab legs and crawfish. He said he “forgot to pay.” He received a civil citation, completed 20 hours of community service, and was suspended from the FSU baseball team.²⁴
In September 2014, Winston stood on a table at the FSU student union and shouted a vulgar, sexually explicit phrase. He was initially suspended for a half against Clemson; the university extended it to the full game after determining he had not been “entirely truthful or forthcoming.” Winston called it a “selfish act.”²⁵

Where Things Stand

Winston was selected first overall in the 2015 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers despite the pending allegations.²⁶ He played for Tampa Bay through 2019, then the New Orleans Saints and Cleveland Browns, and signed with the New York Giants as a free agent on March 31, 2025.²⁷ No criminal charges have ever been filed against him in either the Kinsman or Uber driver cases, and all related civil lawsuits have been settled.

1
NPR. FSU Pays $950,000 to Woman Who Accused Jameis Winston of Sexual Assault
2
USA Today. Jameis Winston Investigation: Rape Accusation, Police Officer Scott Angulo
3
The New York Times. Errors in Inquiry on Rape Allegations Against FSU’s Jameis Winston
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ABC News. Jameis Winston Not Charged
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WFSU. Update: TPD Releases Jameis Winston Investigation Reports
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ESPN. What The Hunting Ground Shows About Jameis Winston, Campus Culture
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NFL.com. Report Alleges FSU Police Obstructed Jameis Winston Probe
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ESPN. Florida State University Follows Title IX Investigation, QB Jameis Winston
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ABC News. Winston Hearing Week of Nov 17
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Time. Jameis Winston Violated Confidentiality
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IJPR. School Hearing Clears Florida State’s Jameis Winston of Sex Allegations
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ABC News. Florida State Reaches Settlement With Jameis Winston’s Accuser
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KERA News. FSU Pays $950,000 to Woman Who Accused Jameis Winston of Sexual Assault
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The Guardian. Jameis Winston Settles Rape Lawsuit
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ABC News. Jameis Winston Files Countersuit Against Accuser in Civil Lawsuit
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Jacksonville.com. Tampa Bay Quarterback Jameis Winston, Rape Accuser Settle Civil Lawsuit
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ESPN. Jameis Winston Sued by Uber Driver Over Alleged 2016 Incident
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ABC News. Jameis Winston, Uber Driver Reach Settlement in 2016 Groping Case
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NFL.com. Buccaneers’ Jameis Winston Suspended Three Games
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CBS Sports. Jameis Winston Officially Suspended Three Games, Apologizes to Uber Driver
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NFL.com. Jameis Winston in Process of Settling Lawsuit With Female Driver
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Sports Illustrated. Florida State, Jameis Winston Pellet Gun
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ESPN. Jameis Winston, Florida State Seminoles Questioned in BB Gun Battle
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NFL.com. FSU QB Jameis Winston Cited for Shoplifting Crab Legs
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ESPN. Jameis Winston Banned Entire Game vs Clemson
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Savannah Morning News. Florida State’s Jameis Winston Will Enter NFL Draft
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New York Giants. Jameis Winston Player Page