Travis Johnson faced 15 years in prison on sexual battery charge.
By BRIAN LANDMAN
Published August 15, 2003
TALLAHASSEE - Florida State's Travis Johnson hugged one of his attorneys and then rested his head on the defense table, mouthing a prayer after hearing a jury found him not guilty of sexual battery.
"It was just a feeling of grace, of knowing this couldn't be happening if God didn't want it be happening," said Johnson, who saved his heartiest hugs for his family and friends. "It's just beautiful. A feeling came over me of love."
The six-woman jury took 25 minutes Thursday to decide the case, in which Johnson did not testify. Had he been found guilty of the second-degree felony, he faced a maximum of 15 years in prison.
Johnson, 21, a defensive tackle, now looks forward to regaining his physical shape and conditioning after offseason shoulder surgery and being cleared to play football. He still could face the school's student judicial board.
"I've got a lot of stuff pent up inside of me that only football can release," said Johnson, who at times cried during testimony and after the verdict was read. "Now it's time to show the man that I am and project myself into the upper echelon of Florida State athletes and Florida State student-athletes."
The accuser, an FSU student-athlete, and her father sat in the back of the courtroom and held hands as the jury returned. After consoling his daughter for several minutes after Leon County judge Donald Modesitt read the verdict, the father solemnly escorted his family out. He refused comment.
Assistant state attorney Adam Ruiz said he was surprised deliberations lasted about as long as a halftime show.
"I felt like we put on a very good case," he said.
But medical testimony from defense witnesses, most notably Arnold Bell, a professor at Florida A&M who's a licensed physical therapist and athletic trainer, couldn't have helped.
The state hired Bell to evaluate Johnson's medical records and rehabilitation reports to see if someone two weeks removed from major rotator cuff surgery could have pushed and pulled a struggling person as the accuser testified.
"I'd say it's not impossible, but highly improbable," Bell said.
FSU assistant trainer Dave Walls, who saw Johnson early Feb.7, hours after the alleged attack, reported no swelling or redness and no complaints of pain, corroborating Bell's expert opinion.
Ruiz was upset about how the FSU administration tried to broker a settlement between Johnson and his accuser in February.
Vice president for student affairs Mary Coburn wrote an e-mail on Feb.27 to the woman with the details of a deal, including a pledge that neither side would pursue further legal action. The accuser, who testified she didn't go to police immediately out of embarrassment and not wanting to "ruin" Johnson, didn't accept and filed a statement with police in early March.
"I think the way that was handled was unacceptable," Ruiz said of FSU. "I think it's outrageous behavior; it's bizarre at best. I don't see how anyone can attempt to resolve a case of this nature, a sexual battery, by a contract with stipulations."
John Kenny, Johnson's attorney, stressed administrators' involvement had nothing to do with the trial outcome. FSU president T.K. Wetherell, who also met with Johnson, his father, the accuser and her father at some point after Feb.18, when the woman first met with police to discuss her options, didn't return a phone call late Thursday seeking comment.
