Jameis Winston and woman who accused him of sexual assault long proclaimed they wanted to truth to come out.
In the end, they decided the pursuit of the truth wasn't as important as getting the whole ugly mess over with.
That's understandable, but it's also a disservice to the public. This wasn't your average case of He-Said, She-Said. The events on the morning of Dec. 7, 2012 , became an all-consuming national debate.
A film was made. Senators used it to promote legislation. It dominated coverage of Florida State, Winston and the way universities handle sexual assault complaints.
All that heat produced little light. If the accuser's civil suit and Winston's countersuit had proceeded, there was certainly no guarantee we'd discover what really happened after the principals left Potbelly's bar on that Pearl Harbor Day.
But Winston and Erica Kinsman at least would finally have been put under oath and had to answer the questions that spawned about 44.8 million internet food fights.
All that conflicting testimony and evidence would have been scrutinized. Any chance of clearing up at least part of the mess ended Wednesday.
No details were released, but it's safe to assume he dropped the countersuit in which he claimed she "maliciously defamed" him.
It's also safe to assume Winston's checkbook is a bit lighter. That will confirm the biases on both sides.
Kinsman's defenders will claim it's tacit acknowledgment he was guilty, and that he feared being put on the witness stand.
Winston's defenders will claim it's proof Kinsman is a gold-digger who turned a consensual sexual encounter into an international incident, and ending the whole charade was the only pragmatic thing to do.
Pragmatism sometimes leaves a lot to be desired.
If the dueling "victims" want to get on with their lives, that would normally be good enough for the rest of us. But Kinsman's camp invited the public's interest when she told her story in "The Hunting Ground."
That documentary prompted Sen. Claire McCaskill to issue a pre-draft warning about FSU's quarterback. She said it was important that "teams thinking about drafting Jameis Winston watch this movie before drafting him."
The film became a cause celebre taken as the literal truth by many viewers. The truth is it was a hit job that ignored anything that contradicted Kinsman's story.
"This is a film project very much in the corner of advocacy for victims, so there would be no insensitive questions or the need to get the perpetrator's side," the producer wrote Kinsman's then-lawyer in her sales-pitch email.
Winston didn't do himself any favors by being a serial idiot at FSU, with the crab leg caper and other mischief. But it's a long leap from yelling a misogynist term at the student union to being a rapist.
I've always maintained only two people really know what happened that night, and even they probably disagree. I'd hoped a civil trial would provide clarity, if not closure. But the odds were always in favor of a quiet settlement despite the usual saber-rattling.
Winston always said he just wanted to clear his name, no matter the costs.
John Clune, Kinsman's lawyer, once told the Tampa Bay Times his client's "main concern was holding Winston accountable, not money."
Things changed.
Now we'll never know which side to hold accountable, and Dec. 7, 2012, will just be a day that will live in unresolved infamy.
