Kinsman's Attorney Wanted Insurance Policy on Jameis Winston http://chopchat.com/2015/02/22/kinsmans-attorney-wanted-insurance-policy-jameis-winston/ Despite denials by Erica Kinsman’s legal team of any financial motivations in their case against Jameis Winston, new documents show Patricia Carroll wanted an insurance policy taken out on Jameis Winston in January of 2014, “to protect her client’s interests in the event he gets injured this year.”In documents that were recently turned over to ChopChat, the firm representing Winston — Gordon & Rees — in an email to FSU General Counsel Carolyn A. Egan, outlines the January-February 2014 extortion attempt by attorney Patricia Carroll on behalf of Erica Kinsman.Kinsman, who recently went public by giving an interview in an upcoming documentary about sexual assault on college campuses, alleges that she was raped by Jameis Winston early in the morning of December 7, 2012.In the 26 months since, a State Attorney investigation and an FSU Code of Conduct hearing — presided over by retired state supreme court justice Major Harding — have not found enough to charge with Winston with a crime or find him guilty of a CoC violation.However that has not deterred Kinsman and her legal team, who have already filed suit against Florida State University and will likely do the same against Winston when he signs his first pro contract.And based on the documents turned over to ChopChat, it would appear that was the plan all along.In an email to FSU General Counsel Carolyn Egan dated October 9, 2014, David Cornwell outlines the timeline events which led up to Patricia Carroll demanding seven million dollars from Winston in exchange for Erica Kinsman’s silence. He also attaches documentation for his claim and offers to make available the means by which FSU may verify his claims:
Recognizing that Ms. Kinsman’s attorneys will say just about anything, we will make available to FSU the originals of the documents referred to herein for forensic analysis to confirm their authenticity and the fact that they were created contemporaneously with the events they describe, subject to FSU abiding by my firm’s privacy guidelines. We will also make our phone records available to FSU. By providing these documents and records to FSU, neither Mr. Winston nor Gordon & Rees waives the attorney client, attorney work product, or any other privileges – all of which are hereby reserved.
Per the documentation, following Carroll’s December 2013 press conference and a subsequent January interview with ABC News in which she states, “absolutely you’re gonna see a civil suit, I want heads to roll.” Cornwell reaches out to Carroll through associate Benjamin Levine to notify her that Gordon & Rees was authorized to be served with the lawsuit Carroll was threatening on Winston’s behalf:
In response to Ms. Carroll’s public threat to sue Mr. Winston, Mr. Cornwell was concerned that Ms. Carroll would try to create a media event out of serving Mr. Winston with a complaint in her lawsuit. To avoid the same media circus as she created at her press conference, Mr. Cornwell directed his associate, Benjamin Levine, Esq., to call Ms. Carroll to inform her that Gordon & Rees was authorized to accept service of the complaint in the lawsuit she threatened to file the day before. (Email dated January 9, 2014 attached as Exhibit C)
Four days later, Carroll responds and attempts to initiate settlement talks. The following day, on January 14, 2014, Levine, at Cornwell’s instruction, gets in touch with Carroll again and informs her “that Mr. Cornwell would not respond to her proposal without a better understanding of the claims Ms. Kinsman believed she had against Mr. Winston and the damages Ms. Kinsman would be seeking.”It is at this point the seven million dollar figure comes up.In an internal Gordon & Rees memorandum dated January 14, 2014, Levine outlines the specifics of the call.After establishing some background at the beginning of the memo, Levine writes:
Today, I informed Carroll that we were not in a position to respond to her request for pre-suit mediation, but an outline of her client’s potential claims/damages would be helpful. She was very forthright with her plans (if they are to be believed). Carroll feels her client has three independently strong cases:Against Florida State University (“FSU”) (Title 9 Claim) Under Florida Law a Plaintiff has to file a “768” letter in order to sue a state municipality within 6 months prior to filing suit. This letter becomes public record, and will outline the allegations against Winston.Against Tallahassee Police Department (“TPD”) (1983 claim)Against Jameis Winston (“Winston”)Carroll is requesting $7,000,000 from Winston for her client to not go forward with any of the three potential lawsuits. Her thought process is that Winston would be covering FSU and TPD’s liability because by forgoing all three potential lawsuits, Winston would avoid any of the allegations being made public. She also is concerned that if we did a confidentiality agreement with the accuser as part of any settlement, her client would be unable to testify against FSU or TPD. Carroll also would want us to get an insurance policy on Winston or something to that effect to protect her client’s interests in the event he gets injured this year.
A paragraph later Levine also adds:
Carroll expects to file her lawsuit against Winston in roughly 60 days if a pre-suit settlement is not reached.
For the next nine days Levine continued to speak with Carroll, refusing to engage in settlement talks but ultimately setting a meeting date for February 10, 2014 while making an agreement with Carroll that she will not speak to the media during this time.On January 24th — ten days later — Carroll attempts another tact and reaches out to Gordon & Rees again seeking a counter offer. In a January 24th email to Cornwell, Levine writes:
Patricia tried to fish around for a number, but I told her we were not there yet. It is very apparent she hopes to settle. She made a strange comment as our call was ending that, “by the way if we settle you will never hear from my client or me again, in the press or anywhere.”
Unfortunately for Carroll — and Kinsman — Winston’s team refused to settle. Shortly after, John Clune and Baine Kerr took over the case and Carroll all but disappeared. In the months since the two Colorado-based attorneys have attempted to deny Cornwell’s claim that Carroll attempted to extort Winston– even flipping the narrative and accusing Cornwell and Winston of initiating the talks.This would seem to indicate otherwise.Decide for yourself: http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/270/files/2015/02/Winston-LTR-Egan-FSU-re-Kinsman-Settlement-Demand-2014-10-09.pdf
