Jameis Winston filed counterclaims against the woman who has accused him of rape, responding to her lawsuit Friday in federal court in Orlando, Fla., by denying the accusations she lodged last month and in turn accusing the woman, Erica Kinsman, of defaming him and attempting to hinder his career.
Kinsman, who identified herself in the recent documentary “The Hunting Ground,” said Winston raped her in late December 2012. After a protracted investigation by the Tallahassee, Fla., Police Department during which Winston was never questioned, local prosecutors declined to charge him.
At a code of conduct hearing about the allegation at Florida State, where Winston was a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, a former Florida Supreme Court chief justice found that the preponderance of the evidence did not show that Winston was responsible for violating the university’s code of conduct.