Matt Araiza accused of rape, served with a lawsuit.

[Forlorn hope]

4 minutes ago, Cheektowaga Chad said:

Is the lawyer really coming after the buffalo bills? 

 

Was that his actual goal the whole time?

 

In his statement the first sentence is aimed at the team

[Warcodered]

5 minutes ago, Cheektowaga Chad said:

Is the lawyer really coming after the buffalo bills? 

 

Was that his actual goal the whole time?

 

In his statement the first sentence is aimed at the team

Unless there was something more, it was more like a parting shot.

[Alphadawg7]

2 hours ago, Beck Water said:

 

Fair enough.  Once the lawsuit is in the public domain, it will draw a lot of public scrutiny and public reaction, which must be dealt with.  In addition, the player will have the distraction of needing to prepare his defense.

 

Counterpoint: when the plaintiff's lawyer calls on July 30 and informs you he's preparing a civil suit that will name Araiza among others in the gang rape of a 17 year old girl, does it really take a lot of imagination to see that public scrutiny, public reaction, and distraction for the player are hurtling down the pike?  Beane said they only had "the boulders" after the lawyer's phone call to DeAngelo, but not the details.

 

Well to be fair, accusations and lawsuit threats more often than not don't move forward.  Its one thing to threaten a civil suit to induce a settlement, its another to actually file it.  And the fact the civil attorney contacted a football team is reason enough for a red flag because they have no involvement or relation to the suit.  Its a clear tactic to shake the tree and ruffle the leaves to try and get Matt scared and come to the settlement table with a big checkbook.  The attorney has openly admitted to trying to settle this without it coming out for money.  

 

2 hours ago, Beck Water said:

Yet the LA Times published the following as part of a story on the case July 29th: 

That article, which any "thorough examination" or investigation should have uncovered (ie Google) maps a lot of details onto those boulders, including the accusation that the player may have been an accessory to, if not involved, in the gang rape of a minor and the information that there's a police investigation underway:

The lawyer also does not seem shy about distributing photos of his client and her journal, so I wouldn't bet that they didn't get sent to the Bills.

 

Yeah but her journal directly contradicts her civil suit and claims.  In her own hand writing, she writes the day after the assault and again in the days following she doesn't know who took her to the room or who was in the room.  Yet in the civil suit the attorney filed, it magically states it was Matt and he was in the room.  Not to mention, there are other sworn statements by eyewitnesses that say Matt wasn't there at the time of the assault.  

 

So point is...a civil suit is one side of the story, the side of the story that is in pursuit of money from the accused and is always going to be embellished to their bias.  And if Bills were getting Matts side, the info in the civil suit, conflicting accounts in her journal, conflicting info from witness statements, etc...its no wonder they would have taken pause to see what was shaping up to be truth before rushing to a judgement.  

 

2 hours ago, Beck Water said:

 

Once the lawyer tells you one of the players named will be Matt Araiza, I don't think you have to have a great imagination to see that the above is going to be a giant PR fiasco if it goes down and the player is still on the Bills roster.

 

So from the POV of the Bills organization internally, what was the drastic change? 

 

I recommend people watch the press conference because they cover all of this.  In fact, they were asked this questions multiple times, and gave thorough answers each time.  

 

Prior to the civil suit...it was just an accusation which is drastically different than an actual criminal case or civil suit.  The Bills at that time, while knowing this is serious, still don't know if it will actually go to a civil suit, are her accusations substantiated by any evidence, is this a jaded ex doing a money grab, or is this player a monster that no one realized.  There is a lot that is not known at the stage of just being accused.  

 

Beane said this verbatim too...there were no criminal chargers, and still are none.  There was no civil suit.  It was an accusation only, and one they took serious, but also wanted to see what they could find out before making decisions.

 

They went further and said we are just a GM and football coach, there were things they  were trying to get their hands on, but were not able to.  And without that, there was nothing they could really do anymore to determine the truth.  And with the filing of the civil suit, they had no choice here but to cut him and let him go deal with this.    

[Beck Water]

1 hour ago, Cheektowaga Chad said:

Is the lawyer really coming after the buffalo bills? 

 

Was that his actual goal the whole time?

 

In his statement the first sentence is aimed at the team

 

He's a Grandstander playing to the audience.

 

It's also not impossible that he's pissed at the Bills because they were supposed to put pressure on Araiza to settle before he filed the suit, or at worst after the suit - not cut him.  That's my inner cynic talking.

[mannc]

2 hours ago, SCBills said:

 

Do all lawyers like this come across like they have a personal vendetta against the person they file a lawsuit against?   Genuine question?… is that normal?

 

 

Only the bad ones.
 

But I also have to say, based on the available information, it appears that Matt Araiza is paying the price of having some really awful legal representation as well.

[Beck Water]

16 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

Yeah but her journal directly contradicts her civil suit and claims.

 

That's not necessarily information the Bills had in July, though (unless the lawyer sent it to them)

 

 

16 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

I recommend people watch the press conference because they cover all of this.  In fact, they were asked this questions multiple times, and gave thorough answers each time.  

 

I watched the press conference twice, I listened carefully to Beane's answer, and they do not make sense to me.  Which is what spurred the post you're responding to.

 

If it makes sense to you, Great.

 

16 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

Prior to the civil suit...it was just an accusation which is drastically different than an actual criminal case or civil suit.  The Bills at that time, while knowing this is serious, still don't know if it will actually go to a civil suit, are her accusations substantiated by any evidence, is this a jaded ex doing a money grab, or is this player a monster that no one realized.  There is a lot that is not known at the stage of just being accused.  

 

The Bills knew when the story broke in the LA times and the lawyer called that it wasn't a "jaded ex doing a money grab"

Unless they gained information they didn't mention, they still don't know if her accusations are substantiated by evidence

 

What's different, as we both agree, is that there's an actual filed lawsuit which is generating a firestorm of widespread negative publicity

 

But both with the LA Times story (which gave pretty explicit details)/Lawyer's call and with the civil suit, we're still dealing entirely with allegations in both cases.

 

So given that, why does Beane's explanations in his presser make sense to you?

 

It doesn't matter really, it's a done deal and I hope the team can move on and McDermott can go back to being a football coach and no longer look traumatized.

[UKBillFan]

7 hours ago, 4merper4mer said:

They can’t explicitly say he lied.  That would be opening them up to lawsuits initiated by Araiza.  He may have left things out…..they may have found out he lied from newly revealed facts…..lots of stuff.  

I don’t think they would have covered it; they would have gone down the route of “no comment” or “due to legal issues, we do not want to discuss background conversations”. In answering a further question, Beane even went out of his way to stress again that Araiza’s story hadn’t changed.

 

That’s not to say which side is telling the truth, just that Araiza has been consistent with what he told the Bills.

 

 

[BuffaloBud17]

7 hours ago, SCBills said:

This lawyer is such a POS… what tf is he even talking about?… Say sorry and make a donation and his parents could sit the stands and watch him play?   That doesn’t sound at all like a reasonable compromise for someone you allege was involved in the violent rape of your client. 
 

Do all lawyers like this come across like they have a personal vendetta against the person they file a lawsuit against?   Genuine question?… is that normal?

 

 

He has a point. If that was your daughter, you would be upset with the Bills too.

Edited August 28, 2022 by BuffaloBud17

[UKBillFan]

16 minutes ago, BuffaloBud17 said:

He has a point. If that was your daughter, you would be upset with the Bills too.

I’d want more than an apology and a donation to a rape charity. I’d be desperate for justice.
And how can he try denying he wasn’t after money when he released texts on Twitter over the last couple of days indicating the opposite?

[Buffalo_Stampede]

4 hours ago, Beck Water said:

 

That's not necessarily information the Bills had in July, though (unless the lawyer sent it to them)

 

 

 

I watched the press conference twice, I listened carefully to Beane's answer, and they do not make sense to me.  Which is what spurred the post you're responding to.

 

If it makes sense to you, Great.

 

 

The Bills knew when the story broke in the LA times and the lawyer called that it wasn't a "jaded ex doing a money grab"

Unless they gained information they didn't mention, they still don't know if her accusations are substantiated by evidence

 

What's different, as we both agree, is that there's an actual filed lawsuit which is generating a firestorm of widespread negative publicity

 

But both with the LA Times story (which gave pretty explicit details)/Lawyer's call and with the civil suit, we're still dealing entirely with allegations in both cases.

 

So given that, why does Beane's explanations in his presser make sense to you?

 

It doesn't matter really, it's a done deal and I hope the team can move on and McDermott can go back to being a football coach and no longer look traumatized.

This actually isn’t true. I don’t believe the Bills knew about the phone calls detectives listened in on. I think that was reported in the civil lawsuit on 8/25. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

 

That would be damaging news if the Bills didn’t know about it.

[LyndonvilleBill]

What if he is innocent? What if it was your son? Wouldn't an apology and a donation be considered a admission of guilt? I have both a daughter and a son, albeit much older than MA at this point, but this is REALLY rough. I've stayed out of the conversation because I think the truth will come out and I'll wait for that before I pass judgment. I think the Bills made the right call cutting him and both can focus on what they need to.

[BuffaloBud17]

17 minutes ago, UKBillFan said:

I’d want more than an apology and a donation to a rape charity. I’d be desperate for justice.
And how can he try denying he wasn’t after money when he released texts on Twitter over the last couple of days indicating the opposite?

 

I agree that donation and apology didn't make must sense but the rest he had right. I feel bad for the girl, knowing the Bills were going to have him as our starting punter with an open investigation into rape still bothers me as a Bills fan.

[UKBillFan]

1 minute ago, BuffaloBud17 said:

 

I agree that donation and apology didn't make must sense but the rest he had right. I feel bad for the girl, knowing the Bills were going to have him as our starting punter with an open investigation into rape still bothers me as a Bills fan.

I agree. Can’t believe how close he came to starting against the Panthers after the allegations were made public.

But the constant changes of wishes and posts on Twitter which seem to counter what is being claimed, in terms of the civil case, makes me uncomfortable as well.

[Buffalo_Stampede]

7 hours ago, SCBills said:

This lawyer is such a POS… what tf is he even talking about?… Say sorry and make a donation and his parents could sit the stands and watch him play?   That doesn’t sound at all like a reasonable compromise for someone you allege was involved in the violent rape of your client. 
 

Do all lawyers like this come across like they have a personal vendetta against the person they file a lawsuit against?   Genuine question?… is that normal?

 

 

It’s been nearly a year we have to remember. A lot more has happened. She was a minor and the accused admitted having sex with her. Over the almost year the girl says she’s been called a liar and that she wanted it by the accused. All that was recorded on tape.
 

This lawyer is unprofessional but his actions the last few days seem desperate. It’s very possible no one ever gets charged. He has seen the bruises and the bloody costume. He heard the players admit having sex with her. What we’re seeing is a desperate lawyer trying to get any type of justice he can for his client.

 

If seems like his goal was to get Araiza cut. It’s possible hearing about the “Punt God”every day is very traumatic for the accuser. Araiza has been all over the national news lately. It likely triggered the reactions from the lawyer.

10 minutes ago, LyndonvilleBill said:

What if he is innocent? What if it was your son? Wouldn't an apology and a donation be considered a admission of guilt? I have both a daughter and a son, albeit much older than MA at this point, but this is REALLY rough. I've stayed out of the conversation because I think the truth will come out and I'll wait for that before I pass judgment. I think the Bills made the right call cutting him and both can focus on what they need to.

I’ve always believed in cases such as these the accuser and the accused should be anonymous. I understand why they protect the accuser. They should protect the accused until charges are filed. Lives can be ruined, even if the evidence doesn’t support charges. It’s a terrible situation all around.

[billsfan1959]

8 hours ago, Beck Water said:

 

Fair enough.  Once the lawsuit is in the public domain, it will draw a lot of public scrutiny and public reaction, which must be dealt with.  In addition, the player will have the distraction of needing to prepare his defense.

 

Counterpoint: when the plaintiff's lawyer calls on July 30 and informs you he's preparing a civil suit that will name Araiza among others in the gang rape of a 17 year old girl, does it really take a lot of imagination to see that public scrutiny, public reaction, and distraction for the player are hurtling down the pike?  Beane said they only had "the boulders" after the lawyer's phone call to DeAngelo, but not the details.

Yet the LA Times published the following as part of a story on the case July 29th: 

That article, which any "thorough examination" or investigation should have uncovered (ie Google) maps a lot of details onto those boulders, including the accusation that the player may have been an accessory to, if not involved, in the gang rape of a minor and the information that there's a police investigation underway:

The lawyer also does not seem shy about distributing photos of his client and her journal, so I wouldn't bet that they didn't get sent to the Bills.

 

Once the lawyer tells you one of the players named will be Matt Araiza, I don't think you have to have a great imagination to see that the above is going to be a giant PR fiasco if it goes down and the player is still on the Bills roster.

 

So from the POV of the Bills organization internally, what was the drastic change? 

I already replied and my answer remains the same. I believe Beane and McDermott tried their best to do the right thing. Nothing I have read or observed has changed that stance. You are welcome to believe otherwise, that is your right. Although, you do seem to be on a bit of a crusade. Again, that is your right.

 

I hope the victim in this case achieves some measure of justice and has the support to help her rebuild her life. I hope the individuals responsible are punished. If Araiza was one of those then so be it. If he was not, then I hope he can rebuild his life as well. 

 

Whatever you or I believe about what the Bills did or didn’t do is of no consequence.

[BuffaloBud17]

This story is on GMA this morning. They are also interviewing the victims father, this is not going away. The Bills will still have to deal with backlash throughout the season probably.

[teef]

5 minutes ago, BuffaloBud17 said:

This story is on GMA this morning. They are also interviewing the victims father, this is not going away. The Bills will still have to deal with backlash throughout the season probably.

I don’t think this case at all.  Not that arazia isn’t  on the team anymore,  the season will start and life will continue in as normal.  If the bills kept him on, I’d agree. 

[BillsFanSD]

11 minutes ago, BuffaloBud17 said:

This story is on GMA this morning. They are also interviewing the victims father, this is not going away. The Bills will still have to deal with backlash throughout the season probably.

Backlash over what?  Araiza isn't on the team.

[Dr. Who]

10 minutes ago, BillsFanSD said:

Backlash over what?  Araiza isn't on the team.

20 posts. Probably a troll/fan of another team. Regardless, wrong.

[FireChans]

1 hour ago, UKBillFan said:

I agree. Can’t believe how close he came to starting against the Panthers after the allegations were made public.

But the constant changes of wishes and posts on Twitter which seem to counter what is being claimed, in terms of the civil case, makes me uncomfortable as well.

I for one appreciate the Bills weren’t overly hasty.