Matt Araiza accused of rape, served with a lawsuit.

[Aussie Joe]

4 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

Same reason anything happens in America. Money and Football rule the land, and women's health is last priority.

 

Look into the backlog of rape kits we have in this country where the police simply dont process them.

 

Look into how many rapes and sexual assaults get pushed down by police when the local college football team is involved.

So the police want to protect some relative unknowns playing on a mediocre college team from serious criminal allegations ?
 

I’ll take what you say at face value as I don’t live there ..but not good 

Edited August 26, 2022 by Aussie Joe

[ndirish1978]

The subject material notwithstanding this thread has really devolved into a mix of presenting selected facts to support different posters' personal theories and criticizing other members for their interpretation of a set of facts.

 

129 pages of this thread at present. If we boiled this down to posts that actually present information we'd probably have 2 pages at most. The situation is quite awful and I understand a lot of poster feel strongly one way or the other; we have been presented with conflicting accounts of the same event from each party's attorneys.  Any chance you guys can agree that people are viewing the facts through the lens of their own personal experiences and beliefs and the fairest thing to do would be to reserve judgement until we actually have all the facts? 

Edited August 26, 2022 by ndirish1978

[YoloinOhio]

3 minutes ago, K-9 said:

The plaintiff’s lawyer is contending that the SDPD stalled efforts to investigate. After reading his incessant tweets about the case, I’m taking everything he says with a huge boulder of salt. It’s just as likely that the DA’s office did investigate the complaint and felt there wasn’t sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges. 

As I’ve said I find it hard to believe that if they did stall, that it was to protect the sdsu football team because they were having a good season. This isn’t Columbus or Tuscaloosa. And even those police depts wouldn’t do that. 

[Beck Water]

3 hours ago, extrahammer said:

 

 

This seems like a HORRIBLE move by the plaintiff's attorney, even if he had her permission.

1) I can not imagine a counselor or psychologist specializing in sexual assault who would think it's a good idea to publicize a victim's private journal

2) now that he's publicized it, I think it's now "discoverable" by the defense - I believe they can ask if she had other journals and ask to be granted access to the entire journal and to her previous journals if any.  They can cross-examine her about any of this on the stand.

3) in her journal, she appears to contradict or not support several statements made in the lawsuit, or to otherwise cast doubt on any testimony she may make. 

 

I say this not to cast doubt on the victim or victim blame, but to point out questions I would have if I were on the civil jury looking at the lawsuit vs the journal.

 

For example:

-she repeatedly emphasizes that she can barely remember, doesn't remember, or isn't really sure.  these do not enhance witness credibility.

-in the lawsuit, she says Araiza asked her for oral sex which she performed, then penetrated her vaginally.  She does not mention this in her journal, just says he approached her, introduced themselves/flirted, and he gave her a drink.

-she says she's "not really sure what happens next" but was "led to a room where they were all already waiting" but does not specify by whom or that the person who led her there threw her on the bed face down and stayed (things which are specified that Araiza did in the lawsuit)

-she says she doesn't know if the marks on her neck are hickies or bruises, and asks "what the hell did they do to me in there?"

-she says re: "white/brown hair" guy (Araiza) "I told him I went to Grossmont".  There is a Grossmont Community College as well as a Grossmont High School in El Cajon CA

 

Again, I say this not to victim-blame, but just to hard-headedly point out that the journal, while heartbreaking for describing the horrible experience the young woman went through, does not seem helpful to a DA considering whether to prosecute the case or to the victim's side for a civil jury trying to consider whether Araiza 1) performed sexual acts with an underage girl 2) has a reasonable basis for a "mistake in age" defense 2) participated in the alleged gang rape.

 

[Aussie Joe]

2 minutes ago, Awwufelloff said:

128 pages in a day for a punter. 

Strap yourself in.. this is going to be new levels 

 

Edited August 26, 2022 by Aussie Joe

[Yobogoya!]

3 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

He hasn’t been named in a criminal lawsuit. Only a civil lawsuit. He could be end up being one of the players charged by the DA. But it’s not up to them to clear his name. The Bills as of now believe that he’s not involved with the rape. So I don’t think suspending/inactive makes sense but for optics. Maybe they do go that route. We will see. As of now he’s expected to play tonight. 

 

If the Bills felt strongly enough to keep him after their investigation, you simply have to believe they are privy to some important pieces of information we don't have yet. 

 

If nothing else, you can't tell me McD is the kind of guy who's going to share a locker room with someone he thinks is a gang rapist. It just doesn't jive with everything we know about the people running this ship up until now. 

Edited August 26, 2022 by Yobogoya!

[SCBills]

Just now, QLBillsFan said:

Both lawyers come across as POS. Not impressed with the approach of either. Bills statement says they throughly investigated. They better have because they are already getting crushed by media. They can find a punter but seems like they are all in supporting 19. 
 

Terrible what this young lady endured. Certainly poor decisions on her part but awful situation. 

Honestly, with todays media, anything less than cutting Araiza will not satiate the mob. 
 

That being said, given the Bills statement and how this lawyer is acting, I’d be willing to believe he will be vindicated.. until I saw what Araiza’s lawyer said about a cash grab, which is an insane thing to say out the gate even if you believe it. 
 

What I worry about for the Bills is that they do believe, and maybe have reason to, that Araiza is innocent of the gang rape accusation.   However, they will get slaughtered by the media for the fallout which includes the “sex with a minor” allegation.   On its own, Bills/Araiza could probably get by if she was lying about being 18… But if he isn’t cut for alleged rape, they will make sure he’s cut for “statutory”.  
 

Not sure I see an ending here where we don’t cut him. 

[The Red King]

1 minute ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

Same reason anything happens in America. Money and Football rule the land, and women's health is last priority.

 

Look into the backlog of rape kits we have in this country where the police simply dont process them.

 

Look into how many rapes and sexual assaults get pushed down by police when the local college football team is involved.

 

Again, this is *possible* in this case, but there is also a chance it is not possible.  I get it, rape is horrible.  I know someone that still carries scars.  So I see how rape victims immediately generate sympathy.  But there is too much a focus to believe supposed rape victims immediately on accusation.  The sad truth is, there are people out there that will play the victim, even when they are not for a number of reasons.  It could be for money, fame, sympathy, revenge or more.  And all too often, even if the claim is revealed false, the accused life is destroyed because even if they were not found guilty in a court of law, they are found guilty in the court of public opinion.

 

Rape can destroy the victim's life.  But false accusations can destroy the accused's life.  That's why most of us are waiting for more to come out before judging.

[aristocrat]

https://calmatters.org/commentary/my-turn/2021/04/law-enforcement-should-get-backlog-of-rape-kits-tested/

 

How then could the audit’s statewide total of 13,929 untested rape kits be anything but a significant undercount?

Law enforcement’s indifference to the backlog reporting requirement is stunning. An analysis based on reporting agencies listed in the audit shows:

 

The victim feels like the cops are stalling but the issue likely is her rape kit has taken a long time to test. 

[Yobogoya!]

Just now, SCBills said:

Honestly, with todays media, anything less than cutting Araiza will not satiate the mob. 
 

That being said, given the Bills statement and how this lawyer is acting, I’d be willing to believe he will be vindicated.. until I saw what Araiza’s lawyer said about a cash grab, which is an insane thing to say out the gate even if you believe it. 
 

What I worry about for the Bills is that they do believe, and maybe have reason to, that Araiza is innocent of the gang rape accusation.   However, they will get slaughtered by the media for the fallout which includes the “sex with a minor” allegation.   On its own, Bills/Araiza could probably get by if she was lying about being 18… But if he isn’t cut for alleged rape, they will make sure he’s cut for “statutory”.  
 

Not sure I see an ending here where we don’t cut him. 

 

Araiza's lawyer clearly needs to work on his PR skills, but the plaintiff's lawyer has a whole other set of screws loose. 

 

What a mess for both parties involved. 

[JoPoy88]

7 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

You said this more than once last night and others corrected you over an over, yet here you are again with this.  You're wrong.

gotta admire the persistence 

[FilthyBeast]

What's really concerning to me aside from the fact this guy isn't a former Bill yet and they already dumped Hauck shows the over the top obsession this regime has with garbage players and Special teams.

 

How much use is any punter on this team really going to get on a week to week basis?

[Mango]

5 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

Same reason anything happens in America. Money and Football rule the land, and women's health is last priority.

 

Look into the backlog of rape kits we have in this country where the police simply dont process them.

 

Look into how many rapes and sexual assaults get pushed down by police when the local college football team is involved.

 

My sister was raped, the police regularly slut shamed and insulted her at every corner, and refused to help her. It took months for them to even speak to the guy.  The way LEO treats victims of sexual assault is sickening at times. 

[RiotAct]

2 minutes ago, Yobogoya! said:

 

If the Bills felt strongly enough to keep him after their investigation, you simply have to believe they are privy to some important pieces of information we don't have yet. 

 

either that or they’re really, really stupid.  And I don’t get those kind of vibes from this Front Office.  But who knows.

[YoloinOhio]

1 minute ago, Yobogoya! said:

 

If the Bills felt strongly enough to keep him after their investigation, you simply have to believe they are privy to some important pieces of information we don't have yet. 

 

If nothing else, you can't tell me McD is the kind of guy who's going to share a locker room with someone he thinks is a gang rapist. It just doesn't jive with everything we know about the people running this ship up until now. 

I agree with this. The only thing I wonder is if more information has come out since the civil lawsuit dropped that may point them in another direction. But as of their statement last night and all of their actions since they were notified,  it was pretty clear where they stand.

[K-9]

5 minutes ago, Awwufelloff said:

128 pages in a day for a punter. 

We have a lot of self-righteous indignation to indulge. 

[Draconator]

7 minutes ago, Awwufelloff said:

128 pages in a day for a punter. 

And?

[Warcodered]

Just now, K-9 said:

We have a lot of self-righteous indignation to indulge. 

to be fair a lot of the pages are eerily similar to each other.

[SCBills]

7 minutes ago, Awwufelloff said:

128 pages in a day for a punter. 

…but wait, there’s more!

[par73]

McDermott and Beane are known for the importance they place on character. Given how long they have known about this, they must have been aware this "storm" was coming. I am surprised that they have "dug in" for a punter (even if they believe he is innocent of rape). Also wonder how the rest of the team feels about this distraction.