Matt Araiza accused of rape, served with a lawsuit.

[pocoboy]

1 minute ago, Mango said:

 

Meh. I guess. It isn't greaseball lawyer specific. The SOP for NFL franchises for stuff like this is: 

1. Pay to make this go away before it reaches the public. 

2. Make sure local police provide reasonable protection. 

Araiza didn't pay to make it go away. Police haven't released results of the victims rape kit to the victim. They are certainly doing their part. 

There is no special "process" or "culture" in Buffalo. The Bills are an NFL franchise doing NFL things. Same stink, different poop. 

 

I'm just saying that this lawyer sees no endgame without trying to press into the Media to do the work the justice system won't (or can't). That makes the endgame:

1) Enhance media sympathy for client

2) Get media to harangue employer for being inconsiderate of sympathetic client's plight

3) Leave employer with no choice but to cut ties and save face

4) Defendant punished with losing livelihood, just desserts for an uncorroborated rape (in their minds), and maybe enough comes in the civil suit to get an award that pays off the lawyer and gives the victim some kind of feeling of justice.

[Tanoros]

8 minutes ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

The Buffalo Bills aren’t the justice system. They have no obligation to wait. They’ll act based on what’s best for the organization.

Agreed, however innocent until proven guilty is an American value. Do you think the Bills are more or less attractive to players when we cut people the second a negative accusation is made against them? Of course not, the reason being, not adhering to a core tenet of the American way of life. 
 

Just any team preaches the best man wins the job, so should the team follow their existing procedures for this kind of thing, and I guarantee you, the procedure is NOT to act based on feelings and public perception. The Bills have to show honesty and integrity in regards to their players, illustrating that they respect them as people. 
 

Too many in this nation react emotionally and then don’t see anything wrong with that. Pure insanity

[Captain Caveman]

1 minute ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

Because he can be disciplined.  Araiza can't be suspended right now according to CBA. It's a civil case. 

Who cares what the NFL can do (I already know they're a garbage organization) I want the Bills to do the right thing, and am disappointed that they probably won't (cause they would have weeks ago if they were going to.)

[BullBuchanan]

Just now, BillsFanSD said:

Yes, that's possible.  We don't know whether the girl in question was raped, and we don't know by who.  Yet.  

And what will need to happen (that didn't already happen at the hospital) in order for you to be convinced she was raped?

[NewEra]

116 pages…..lol

[aceman_16]

1 minute ago, Captain Caveman said:

I'd be willing to bet he would have been traded and played last year if not for those legal issues

They tried to trade him before the legal issues were known...however, he had a no trade clause and got to veto any team (which he did)

[pocoboy]

5 minutes ago, Solomon Grundy said:

The lawyer apparently knows that Jerry Sullivan is a Bills beat writer😎

 

Lawyer is probably on a retainer with Robert Kraft.

[ExiledInIllinois]

Just now, Captain Caveman said:

Who cares what the NFL can do (I already know they're a garbage organization) I want the Bills to do the right thing, and am disappointed that they probably won't (cause they would have weeks ago if they were going to.)

The right thing to do is to stand by him if they believe him he's not at fault. 

[JoPoy88]

7 minutes ago, hondo in seattle said:

 

"Innocent-until-proven-guilty" isn't just a judicial concept, it's an American value. 

 

I don't expect businesses to require the same burden of proof necessary in a court of law.  But I think that, morally and ethically, they shouldn't terminate employees without a preponderance of evidence. 

 

I don't think the Bills should cut Araiza because of the media storm.  I do think they should cut him if their investigation concludes Araiza is probably guilty.  

the concept of at-will employment is also a thing and seems pretty prevalent in this country. It certainly isn’t a moral failing by the team to simply not want to deal with the headache of this.

[UKBillFan]

1 minute ago, Tanoros said:

Agreed, however innocent until proven guilty is an American value. Do you think the Bills are more or less attractive to players when we cut people the second a negative accusation is made against them? Of course not, the reason being, not adhering to a core tenet of the American way of life. 
 

Just any team preaches the best man wins the job, so should the team follow their existing procedures for this kind of thing, and I guarantee you, the procedure is NOT to act based on feelings and public perception. The Bills have to show honesty and integrity in regards to their players, illustrating that they respect them as people. 
 

Too many in this nation react emotionally and then don’t see anything wrong with that. Pure insanity

The thing is the Bills had an easy out - choose Haack based on his experience and cut Araiza. There may have been some blowback but, if this came out as it has, it would suddenly be more accepted. They ran an investigation and decided to keep him on. Big decision.

[cv05]

5 minutes ago, 4merper4mer said:

It wouldn’t be great but it’s not impossible that Beane knew but McD did not.

 

Agreed, not impossible. But highly unlikely.

 

I think every team in the league knew about it, before the draft. Why are 2 other punters going ahead of him? It makes no sense. Its being openly talked about online. Reporters are said to have known. NFL scouts are pretty diligent about digging on all these guys for dirt as far as I understand it. I find it hard to believe the Bills (all involved) were naïve to it.

[Captain Caveman]

Just now, ExiledInIllinois said:

The right thing to do is to stand by him if they believe him he's not at fault. 

 

I wish I could believe that they believe that, but I don't.

[BillsFanSD]

Just now, BullBuchanan said:

And what will need to happen (that didn't already happen at the hospital) in order for you to be convinced she was raped?

Well, it sounds like there's a rape kit in evidence someplace.  Those results could easily persuade me that a rape took place.

 

Also, according to the civil complaint, one of the girl's friends looked in through the window and tried to enter the room where the rape allegedly took place.  I think (not sure) that there was another friend or two at the party.  Those folks can corroborate or undermine her account of the evening, and we haven't heard from them yet.  I would definitely update my priors based on their testimony.  

[ddaryl]

8 minutes ago, hondo in seattle said:

 

Azaira apparently already turned down that option.  Look at the texts exchanged between the two lawyers.  

Which means 

 

1.)  he is telling his truth and won't accept any blame because he didnt do what she is saying.

Or

 

2.) he thinks he can ride this out and win back public opinion...

But settling with an NDA would keep him out of jail, so he is gambling a lot here if he is lying

Edited August 26, 2022 by ddaryl

[julian]

12 hours ago, BillsShredder83 said:

Dude, knowing this team and beane and mcd.... if they have credible witnesses, believe he didnt act maliciously..... that team has had a family sit down to say- hey this is whats coming. this is why were standing behind mat. we stick up for our players when we believe in them. as a team, this isnt going to effect our goals. the media might be brutal, but this is us taking a stand for someone who could just as easily be YOU. -- THAT IS A STRONG LOCKER ROOM MOMENT

 

If that meeting hasnt happened, and the bills are standing behind their guy, that meeting will happen. If thats what beane and mcd do, i think theyve earned the trust of the team to get benefit of doubt. hell, this could be somewhat of a rallying point for the team. Does this sound unreasonable? I truely dont think it does.

I 100% agree with everything you just wrote here and I’m always innocent until proven guilty. My desire for this team’s success is powerful and I’m going to assume it’s trumped by the management and players desire.

 

 I’m giving McDermott and Bean the benefit of the doubt and will trust whatever decision they make is with the interest of winning first and foremost. Fingers crossed.

[YoloinOhio]

16 minutes ago, quinnearlysghost88 said:

She wrote in her journal the day after the incident that she told him she went to high school. 

She said she told them that she went to Grossmont (period). There is both a Grossmont college and Grossmont HS. Ariaza’s lawyer said he has witnesses who say she told them she went to Grossmont college. 

[BullBuchanan]

7 minutes ago, pocoboy said:

 

"Hi, my name is Bull Buchanan, welcome to my illiterate world"

 

Blame is tough. I'd blame him and his buddies for being stupid and screwing everything this side of Luxembourg. If that's your life, drinking & ****ing, there are a host of problems that may come your way.

Maybe I am illiterate, help me out a little then. If you think all his buddies were doing is "screwing everything this side of Luxembourg" does that include the teenager in question which would be a felony and make him a Sex Offender?

[Captain Caveman]

For everyone talking about how the Beane and McDermott would never keep a guy who could have done this, let's not forget that they kept Tyrel Dodson after his domestic violence charge.  In that case he served what the League deemed to be an appropriate suspension, and I don't really have a problem with him getting a second chance.  

But I think it is helpful in looking at how Beane and McDermott view a player in trouble - as a business decision.

Edited August 26, 2022 by Captain Caveman

[UKBillFan]

1 minute ago, cv05 said:

 

Agreed, not impossible. But highly unlikely.

 

I think every team in the league knew about it, before the draft. Why are 2 other punters going ahead of him? It makes no sense. Its being openly talked about online. Reporters are said to have known. NFL scouts are pretty diligent about digging on all these guys for dirt as far as I understand it. I find it hard to believe the Bills (all involved) were naïve to it.

From memory, Araiza was the third or fourth punter in the draft due to his downsides (lack of experience with holding and hang time) so he went where he was expected to go, in punter terms.

[mikef272002]

1) The girl said she attended High school, she did not say she told him she was 17.

2) She went to the side of the house with Matt, he told her to go down and she did.  He then turned her around and they had sex. 

3) His lawyer and multiple witnesses said he was not in the room when the accusations of rape occurred.

 

This sounds to me like she had sex with a guy at a party, neither considered age before hand.  Everyone keeps saying he raped her, but it does not sound like forced rape to me.  It sounds like once she was in the bedroom, multiple people raped her but Matt was not part of that group and for all we know he didn't even know it occurred. However, of all the men there, Matt is the NFL guy, so that's who they're going to go after for money due to her age, hence the civil case and the multiple texts between lawyers. 

 

I think we should let this play out and hear both sides before we rush to judgment.  If she willingly had sex with Matt, which it appears she did, then Matt should face a misdemeanor. Would any of you want your 21 year old son to go to jail and lose his chance to play int he NFL because he had sex with a girl that was 17 who consented to the sex, especially if your son didn't realize she wasn't 18?  For all we know she could of told him she was 18, the facts on that aren't out yet, only that she told him she was in high school.