After a female student attending the University of Florida accused two Gators football players of sexual misconduct in December, the state's attorney William Cervone consulted with university police to see if the case warranted criminal charges.
The woman reported the alleged incident involving Florida football players Antonio Callaway and Treon Harris to the university's student conduct and conflict resolution office. She didn't report it to either campus police or Gainesville police. Local law enforcement previously confirmed to ESPN that they didn't have reports related to the alleged incident.
"I had a conversation with officers at the university to see whether it was going to come this way," said Cervone, who said his office never fully investigated the allegations. "Based on what I knew then, I didn't think there was even a remote possibility of criminal charges. It would have been totally unprosecutable based on the facts given to me. It would have never risen to sexual assault or sexual battery."
On Friday, the woman boycotted Callaway's Title IX hearing because the university appointed a Gators football booster to adjudicate the case. According to a letter obtained by ESPN, the woman's attorney, John Clune of Boulder, Colorado, informed Florida's deputy general counsel that the complainant, her parents and five witnesses would not attend Callaway's student conduct code hearing in Gainesville, Florida.
According to sources, Callaway's hearing proceeded without the accuser. A decision is expected in the near future.
Clune sent a letter to Cervone on Monday, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN, saying Cervone's comments were an "inappropriate and unethical abuse" of his position.
"One of the main reasons why my client did not report to law enforcement is that she was informed that you are loathe to prosecute a sexual assault against a Gator football player and now you have loudly confirmed just that," the letter also read. "Clearly, my client made the right decision to not pursue criminal charges."
Florida officials appointed attorney Jake Schickel to serve as a hearing officer. Schickel, a founding partner of a Jacksonville, Florida, law firm, has a bachelor's degree in political science and law degree from Florida. He is also a past trustee of Florida's Levin College of Law.
A former track and field athlete at Florida, Schickel, 68, is a Scholarship Club donor to Florida Football Boosters, which requires annual contributions of $4,800 to $8,599, according to a 2014-15 year in review program published by the UF athletics department. According to the documents, Schickel is also a 3-Point Club donor to Florida basketball, which requires annual contributions of $2,000 to $4,999.
"This has been a difficult decision but as I previously indicated to you, the fact that UF has hired a football booster to adjudicate a sexual assault allegation against one of the team's own football players is a fundamentally skewed process in which [the complainant] refuses to participate," Clune wrote in letter sent Friday morning to UF deputy general counsel Amy Hass.
"To be clear, [the complainant] remains very willing to participate in a fair and unbiased disciplinary process. Mr. Callaway's behavior has had a great impact on her life and continuing as a student at UF is of great importance to her and her future," the letter stated.
In January, Florida suspended Callaway and Harris for violating the school's code of conduct policy. They were barred from campus and took online courses during the suspension.
Harris, a junior from Miami, announced last month that he was leaving Florida and transferring to another school. Sources familiar with the case told ESPN that Harris agreed to leave Florida as part of a plea deal related to the Title IX case. He also apologized to the woman, the sources said.
Callaway, a sophomore from Miami, has maintained his innocence and planned to fight the allegations in Friday's student conduct code hearing. He was allowed to return to practice with the Gators last week, but he hasn't been fully reinstated to the team.
It is common in Gainesville for athletes accused of crimes to avoid criminal charges. Last year, "Outside the Lines" analyzed the criminal behavior of football and men's basketball players at a sample of 10 different universities from the five major conferences, and the University of Florida ended up having the highest numbers - 80 athletes involved in more than 100 crimes.
Yet the Florida athletes never faced charges, had charges against them dropped or were not prosecuted 56 percent of the time.
When "Outside the Lines" examined a comparison set of cases involving college-age males in Gainesville, 28 percent of the crimes ended either without a record of charges being filed or by charges eventually being dropped.
Cervone told "Outside the Lines" last year that he's been friends with Johnson since both men worked in the state attorney's office back in the 1970s.
The two attend Florida athletic games together, but Johnson said that does not influence how he rules on cases.
"He knows me and what I expect. I know what I'm going to get from when there is a case," Cervone said at the time.