Tallahassee Police Finally Admit Problems With Investigation Of Jameis Winston Rape Case

One of the most sinister things that came to light in the Jameis Winston case was how Florida State and local police protected athletes accused of sexual assault. A former FSU administrator admitted as much last month in a deposition, and the stunted investigation into rape allegations against Winston certainly appears to fit into this pattern as well.

To recap: Tallahassee PD let the case sit unnoticed for nine months until a Tampa Bay Times reporter asked for files. Florida State police actively tried to discourage other reporters from poking around. When it became apparent that the report would have to see the light of day, FSU administrators, Winston’s attorineys, and pretty much everyone else got to see them before the Florida’s State Attorney office. An investigation by the New York Times revealed once again how systematic this type of obfuscation was.

Now, USA Today has obtained a deposition from Tallahassee police officer Scott Angulo where he admitted some of the flaws of his department’s investigation into rape allegations made against Winston by Erica Kinsman. Angulo says, among other things, that he did not ask the manager of the Legacy Suites where the alleged rape took place if he’d seen anyone matching Kinsman’s description. He also admitted to not trying to contact the FSU PD officer who first responded, as well as to not looking very hard into the taxi that took Winston and Kinsman to Winston’s apartment. These were all big problems that may have severely hampered the investigation.

Angulo also admitted that he didn’t talk to enough people at the bar Kinsman and Winston left from:

Angulo acknowledged not trying to get surveillance video from Potbelly’s, saying that it “absolutely” should have been done.

“I relied on other people’s information that Potbelly’s does not record,” Angulo said. “And that is — they all knew, I made that mistake. If they do record.”

Angulo did not seek to interview eyewitnesses from the bar, including Potbelly’s employees, who could potentially identify who Kinsman left with that night.

The deposition came as part of the Title IX lawsuit Kinsman filed against Florida state. You can read more details at USA Today.

Photo via AP