Might the Tallahassee police try to block the report’s release on legal grounds? Mr. Bonasorte wanted to know. “I will talk to Jimbo, if released or not,” he said, in an email to Chief Perry.

TMZ, the gossip website, also requested the police report and later asked the school’s deputy police chief, Jim L. Russell, if the campus police had interviewed Mr. Winston about the rape report. Mr. Russell responded by saying his officers were not investigating the case, omitting any reference to the city police, even though the campus police knew of their involvement. “Thank you for contacting me regarding this rumor — I am glad I can dispel that one!” Mr. Russell told TMZ in an email. The university said Mr. Russell was unaware of any other police investigation at the time of the inquiry. Soon after, the Tallahassee police belatedly sent their files to the news media and to the prosecutor, William N. Meggs. By then critical evidence had been lost and Mr. Meggs, who criticized the police’s handling of the case, declined to prosecute.

Only after the end of Florida State’s national championship season did the university, having begun a disciplinary inquiry, attempt without success to interview Mr. Winston. Seven more months would pass before the school interviewed his accuser, who had long since dropped out. Mr. Winston has acknowledged having sex with his accuser, but said it was consensual. He will cooperate with the university’s disciplinary inquiry, which the university said Friday would be conducted by an independent hearing officer.

Abuse Call to 911

The 911 call came at 3:10 a.m. A man and a woman were fighting outside an apartment complex three miles north of the Florida State campus. The caller, a neighbor, asked the police to hurry. He said the man was grabbing the baby, punching the mother and trying to block her from driving away. “He jumped behind the truck, and she tried to run him over,” he said.

It was not the first time the couple had fought, the caller said, adding, “You can constantly hear them screaming.”

In two minutes, the Tallahassee police were on the scene. Officer Paul Donaldson later summed up what they had learned in a three-paragraph report: The man and woman were inside talking, not yelling. He was holding their baby. During an earlier argument, she had tried to leave their apartment, taking the baby with her, but he objected. Both calmed down and went back inside. “There was no bruising or evidence of a battery,” the police report stated, calling the complaint “unfounded.”