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Erica Kinsman FSU Lawsuit Will Go to Trial Next Summer, Motion for Dismissal Denied

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Erica Kinsman is set to go to trial with Florida State University (FSU) over her lawsuit accusing the school of not properly adjudicating her rape complaint against Jameis Winston.

FSU asked for the dismissal of Kinsman's lawsuit in March, a motion U.S. District Court Judge Mark E. Walker dismissed on Wednesday, The Tampa Bay Times reported. Kinsman is a former student at FSU and accused Winston, a former football star at the school, of raping her in Dec. 2012.

Kinsman claimed FSU violated Title IX, the federal gender-equity law prohibiting sexual discrimination. Under Title IX, colleges and universities are required to properly investigate and adjudicate complaints of sexual misconduct and violence involving students.

USA Today released several excerpts from Walker's ruling and you can read the newspaper's full report here.

"In sum, FSU offers a different take on some of the facts in the complaint and additional facts that are not in the complaint in an attempt to show its efforts to respond were diligent and genuine, or at least not 'clearly unreasonable' under Title IX," Walker wrote. "This Court does not resolve such factual disputes on a motion to dismiss.

"Viewed in the light most favorable to Ms. Kinsman, the complaint plausibly alleges deliberate indifference during this period that effectively denied her the ability to attend FSU."

Kinsman accused FSU of "deliberate indifference" in order to keep their star quarterback on the football field, ESPN reported. Winston won the Heisman Trophy in 2013, the same year the Seminoles won the National Championship. The alleged rape occurred before Winston ever took a meaningful snap for FSU, when he was still a five-star recruit vying for the starting position.

The Tallahassee Police Department (TPD) handed the case over to the office of Willie Meggs, a state attorney in Fla., in Nov., months after Kinsman reported her complaint to FSU. But Meggs was not able to file criminal charges against Winston because the evidence the TPD gathered was insufficient to do so.

According to The Times, Kinsman and FSU are expected to go to trial before a jury in July, 2016.

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