Posted by Mike Florio on January 25, 2016, 3:14 PM EST
AP
Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston continues to face litigation from Erica Kinsman, who alleged that he raped her in December 2012. Kinsman now has some extra cash to fund her effort to prove Winston’s guilt.
Via Matt Baker of the Tampa Bay Times, Florida State has settled a lawsuit brought by Kinsman under Title IX, a federal law that requires public universities to investigate allegations of sexual assault. Florida State has announced that $250,000 will go to Kinsman and that $700,000 will go to her lawyers, presumably due to the presence in Title IX of a provision allowing a prevailing plaintiff to recover attorneys’ fees, which gives attorneys an incentive to take on cases of this nature.
Typically, settlements of civil actions occur under an agreement of confidentiality. Because FSU is a public institution, the settlement can’t be kept secret. However, Florida State is entitled to blame the outcome on anticipated litigation costs and not on the possibility that Florida State was in the wrong.
“We have an obligation to our students, their parents and Florida taxpayers to deal with this case, as we do all litgation, in a financially responsible manner,” Florida State president John Thrasher said in the release. “With all the economic demands we face, at some point it doesn’t make sense to continue even though we are convinced we would have prevailed.”
Thrasher added that the school would have faced “millions of dollars in additional litigation expense,” which if true should prompt Florida State to take a closer look at the billing practices of its outside lawyers.
The problem for Winston is that news of the settlement not only creates the impression that Florida State did something wrong, but that Winston did, too. And this could make Winston even more determined to do whatever he has to do to win the case that Kinsman has brought against him.
@jwonder 