At 4:43 a.m. ET on Dec. 7, 2012, a report of a sexual assault was filed with the Tallahassee Police Department. The incident took place earlier that morning, between 1:30 and 2 a.m. The alleged suspect, it is now known, is Jameis Winston, currently the starting quarterback and Heisman contender for second-ranked Florida State.



Winston has not been charged with a crime. Forget innocent until proven guilty, absolutely no law enforcement body has accused him of doing anything at all. He'll continue to quarterback the Seminoles.

In fact, since that moment the report was filed nearly a year ago until TMZ broke news of the investigation Wednesday evening, no one from the police to the prosecutor's office has bothered to speak to Winston. Not one interview, not one question, not one thing, at least according to Winston's attorney, Tim Jansen.

So let's start right there.

If Jansen is telling the truth, then over 11 months of a said-to-be "open investigation" by the Tallahassee police, including the Special Victims Unit that was assigned the case, deemed it unnecessary to speak to one of the two people who would presumably be at the center of this incident. They did contact Jansen last February about the allegation, but they never went any further in regards to his client.

Why?

If Jameis Winston sexually assaulted someone, then he should go to prison. Forget about football, this is about freedom.

At the same time, however, he deserves some fairness to the process. The police report released Wednesday is overwhelmingly redacted, but there are a few clues available about the incident.

View photos

They include the complainant admitted drinking that night. The location of the alleged assault was an apartment. The time of incident was, essentially, late on a Friday night. The listed motive, per the complainant, was "sexual gratification."

All of these suggest a classic case of "acquaintance" or "date rape." This isn't a guy hiding out in the bushes grabbing women who are innocently passing by.

This kind of rape, generally, winds up as a he-said, she-said. Sadly, it's all too common, especially on and around college campuses.

Regardless, it doesn't take 11 months to investigate the incident, especially when the woman has come in so quickly. It certainly doesn't take 11 months to even bother to question someone who has been accused of this, especially when the initial report was made within two hours of the alleged incident.

The standard, if the allegation is deemed credible, is to speak to Jameis Winston as soon as possible. That isn't just for the credibility of the investigation but to protect the accused. Memory is sharper in the immediate aftermath and not nearly as much a year later. An innocent man would rather defend himself with the clearest version of the truth possible.

It's not that the police did nothing here. The police report says that "evidence" was collected from the victim and pictures of the victim's injuries were taken. At least three separate officer's names are listed on the report. So there was something there.

So, again, why did no one speak to Winston?

At this point, with so little known and so many questions swirling, that is the essential point of the story. The Tallahassee Police have turned the investigation over to a state's attorney. Winston's attorneys didn't return calls seeking additional comment.

Story continues