A Jameis Winston family advisor wrote in a letter to Florida State that an attorney for the woman who accused Winston of sexual assault asked for $7 million to settle any potential lawsuit.
The Tampa Bay Times obtained a copy of a letter sent by David Cornwell, a high-powered sports attorney based in Atlanta. Cornwell's letter says attorney Patricia Carroll demanded $7 million to settle any potential claims against Winston, Florida State and the Tallahassee Police Department.
But John Clune, the accuser's current attorney for the accuser, disputes Cornwell's account. In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, he said it was Cornwell who contacted Carroll "to discuss paying off our client."
The statement said, "Patricia Carroll didn't even know who David Cornwell was until he called. Mr. Cornwell then himself flew down from Atlanta to negotiate with Ms. Carroll."
Clune's statement said settlement discussions were "immediately unproductive" and that Carroll decided to discontinue the talks.
"Although it is our understanding that settlement was discussed at that meeting, no authorized demands were made of Mr. Winston," the statement said.
When reached Wednesday morning by the Times, Carroll declined comment and said she would release a statement Thursday.
Cornwell's letter says he met with Carroll in February 2014, two months after the Leon County state attorney's office declined to press charges against Winston. At a news conference in December to announce that he would not file charges against Winston, state attorney Willie Meggs said prosecutors must "have a reasonable likelihood of a conviction" when they file charges and he said they didn't have it in that instance.
FSU coach Jimbo Fisher said on Wednesday's weekly ACC coaches' teleconference that he was aware of the letter but had not read it and was focused on preparing his team for Saturday's game at North Carolina State. He also used the word "clutter" to describe the talk surrounding Winston and said the team has not been distracted.
Meanwhile, Fisher announced Tuesday night that Winston's weekly news conferences on Wednesday have been canceled for the time being.
"We did tweak his schedule," Fisher told reporters. "Part of that is to take a little load off of him, let him focus on being a good student -- which he does a great job."
Fisher said Winston will talk to the media after games.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
