Winston signed a four-year, $23.35 million contract with Tampa Bay and was at the start of rookie minicamp on Friday. The deal included a $16.7 million signing bonus. Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston filed a countersuit against accuser Erica Kinsman, and the No. 1 NFL Draft pick said again in the federal court filing that he did not rape the woman.
Winston’s attorneys, John F. Myers and David Cornwell Sr., filed a counterclaim Friday against Kinsman in court in Orlando, Fla.
Last month, attorney John Clune filed the lawsuit on behalf of Kinsman, who accused Winston of rape in December 2012. Her suit seeks damages of more than $150,000 for “intentional infliction of emotional distress arising out of forcible rape.”
Kinsman, a former Florida State student, accused the former FSU quarterback of raping her in December 2012 at Winston’s apartment in Tallahassee, Fla. The state attorney’s office announced in December 2013 it would not pursue criminal charges against him. A retired Florida Supreme Court judge ruled in December 2014 there wasn’t sufficient evidence to prove Winston violated Florida State’s student code of conduct.
Winston’s three counterclaims alleges that Kinsman has defamed him and damaged his potential for endorsement income. Winston also answered Kinsman’s accusations by categorically denying them.
In the counterclaim, the lawyers said Kinsman has told “many different and inconsistent accounts of her sexual encounter” with Winston.
“Ms. Kinsman has been successful in one major area,” the filing said. “She has mounted a false and vicious media campaign to vilify Mr. Winston with the objective of getting him to pay her to go away. Ms. Kinsman is motivated by the most insidious objectives — greed.”
Winston signed a four-year, $23.35 million contract with Tampa Bay and was at the start of rookie minicamp on Friday. The deal included a $16.7 million signing bonus.
