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Jameis Winston's Sexual Assault Accuser Files Lawsuit Accusing Him of Rape, Seeking Jury Trial

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Shortly after identifying herself as the former Florida State University (FSU) student who accused Jameis Winston of raping her, Erica Kinsman is now taking him to court.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, Kinsman filed a lawsuit Thursday against Winston, who played quarterback at FSU the past two football seasons, in Orange County on allegations of forcible rape, sexual battery, assault, false imprisonment and emotional distress.

In addition to seeking $15,000 in damages, Kinsman's attorneys are adamant the case be heard in front of a jury.

"Jameis Winston... has proven time and time again to be an entitled athlete who believes he can take what he wants," John Clune, one of the woman's attorneys, said in a statement. "He took something here that he was not entitled to and he hurt someone. There are consequences for that behavior and since others have refused to hold him accountable, our client will."

Her identity kept anonymous at the time, Kinsman reported the incident to the police that night in Dec. 2012, but did not identify Winston as her rapist until about a month later. After what can only be categorized as a less-than-thorough investigation, the case went idle for nearly a year, until the Times and other news outlets learned of it in Nov. 2013.

The case was then handed off to Willie Meggs, the state attorney in Tallahassee, who determined there was insufficient evidence to file criminal charges against Winston. FSU then held a student conduct hearing for Winston and an independent arbitrator determined there was not enough evidence to punish him.

Kinsman does not offer much information not already obtained by news outlets, USA Today noted, but lawsuits generally require a lower burden of proof than a criminal court does. Though both Winston and Kinsman agree there was a sexual encounter on the night in question, their individual versions and the context of various events reportedly differ starkly.

An attorney who has represented Winston throughout, David Cornwell did not comment on the lawsuit, as all parties involved expected it to come at some point.

But Cornwell previously stated he intends to counter Kinsman's filing with a lawsuit for defamation and extortion, USA Today reported.

Blaine Kerr, another attorney representing Kinsman, recently told Al Jazeera America he believed the case was "very, very strong" when he took it. He also said the reported "problems" with Kinsman's account have come from "misreporting."

"Usually, when you're going through the process of learning the facts of the case and learning to decide whether to take it, there's usually something wrong and it tends to be the same things over and over again: like, the victim was extremely intoxicated and doesn't remember much; or the victim was so ashamed of what had been done to her and was so much in denial that she took a substantial period of time to report," Kerr said. "None of that was present here. That was immediately apparent. Erica cried out for help as soon as she was released from Jameis Winston."

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