Matt Araiza accused of rape, served with a lawsuit.

[NickelCity]

1 minute ago, Chaos said:

the right thing for Araiza to do is retire "to focus on defending my reputation to avoid being a distraction for the Bills" and unretire when he clears his name.  He should do this before the Bills have to cut him and make any derogatory comments about him. 

 

The first viable alternative to an outright cut or commissioner list I have heard

[Billznut]

3 minutes ago, TheyCallMeAndy said:

I noticed his lawyer is contradicting himself a LOT. Couple of amateurs trying to get famous.

Yeah I’m guessing Araiza’s family doesn’t have a lot of money available to use on an excellent attorney. Because it seems strange to me that they are potentially letting their son’s life and freedom hang in the balance with a less than great lawyer. Major mistake by them currently. They need to wake up and upgrade his attorney ASAP 

Edited August 27, 2022 by Billznut

[Motorin']

1 minute ago, TheyCallMeAndy said:

I noticed his lawyer is contradicting himself a LOT. Couple of amateurs trying to get famous.

 

Exactly. And I don't think you can discount the possibility that this is a cash grab from Matt Araiza's attorney.

 

He warned the lawyer for the victim not to keep calling the Bills bc he could get cut and then their would be no money to get. But that's also true for him, which means it was in his best interest to make the Bills believe there was nothing to the story so that he can get paid. 

 

 

[Paul Costa]

The easy thing to do would be to cut him. The hard thing is to stand by him with all of this turmoil. The accusations sound absolutely horrible. And who ever did this too this girl should go to prison. But I will say there are many unanswered questions. Did he know she was 17. Most underage girls at adult events do not publicize them being underage. The name of her HS is also the name of a local college. If she said I go to Fordham. She’s not lying but she Actually goes to Fordam Prep. ( fordham prep is an all boys school) but you get the idea. Her accusation says he demanded her to preform oral sex on him outside. What 17 year old girl just says OK? And then that she was taken upstairs to his bedroom where she was gang raped. I’m not doubting the sexual assault didn’t happen. I’m sure it did and God willing all participants will go to prison for a very long time. I’m curious about her overall memory being so accurate. A 17 year old girl is drunk before she comes to the party. When she gets there she says they force her to drink more and slip a roofie like drug in her drink. She says she passes out at some point. I reckon her memory wasn’t as sharp as her sober mind would have been. That being said has she been told what she now says happened. I’ve drank too much before and people have told me things I didn’t remember happening. I’ve never to my knowledge taken a roofie but that would even make your memory worse. I have a suspicion that MA’s version of these events are much different. I personally commend the Bills for standing by him and at least letting his version of the story to come out. Again it would be easy to cut him. 

[Herc11]

20 minutes ago, 78thealltimegreat said:

The fact is Matt should be the one having a press conference with his attorney. If he doesn’t want to answer sensitive questions due to legal issues that is  understandable but he should be out there telling people he didn’t do this or else public perception is the kid is guilty of rape. 

He made a press release yesterday during the game saying he was going to clear his name.

[mannc]

6 minutes ago, Billznut said:

Yeah I’m guessing Araiza’s family doesn’t have a lot of money available to use on an excellent attorney. Because it seems strange to me that they are potentially letting their son’s life and freedom hang in the balance with a less than great lawyer. Major mistake by them currently. They need to wake up and upgrade his attorney ASAP 

I agree, but it's not easy to find an attorney who's adept at this sort of case.  Do you hire a criminal defense lawyer, a civil litigator, or both?  Not many lawyers are experienced at defending this sort of high profile criminal/civil matter and even some of the most renowned and experienced attorneys screw it up (see Rusty Hardin and Deshaun Watson).  Very few defense lawyers are media-savvy...they mostly live by the credo of "not trying the case in the media", which is exactly what has to be done right now, IMO. 

Edited August 27, 2022 by mannc

[Yobogoya!]

5 minutes ago, Billznut said:

Yeah I’m guessing Araiza’s family doesn’t have a lot of money available to use on an excellent attorney. Because it seems strange to me that they are potentially letting their son’s life and freedom hang in the balance with a less than great lawyer. Major mistake by them currently. They need to wake up and upgrade his attorney ASAP 

 

That attorney has already said he will be stepping aside for one that specializes in civil cases. He was retained due to the criminal investigation, though he did communicate with the plaintiff's lawyer previously. 

[LyndonvilleBill]

13 minutes ago, NickelCity said:

 

The first viable alternative to an outright cut or commissioner list I have heard

I was wondering if players had a FMLA program or a leave of absence policy as well? And what effects it has on roster and pay. Haven't found anything yet to answer the questions. 🤔

Edited August 27, 2022 by LyndonvilleBill

[nedboy7]

Well said by Eisen...

 

 

 

[Beck Water]

16 minutes ago, Motorin' said:

 

Araiza's attorney said it wasn't a party, it was just a gathering of football players, and that Matt Araiza never stepped foot inside the house that night.

 

"It wasn't a party, it was just put out on Snapchat as such and welcomed 4 scanty Halloween costumed young women to join their private chill gathering"

 

Araiza's attorney will have to educate us on the fine distinctions between a "gathering of football players" at which young "single and lookin' to mingle" ladies feel welcome vs. a "party".  Maybe the music can only be heard 3 houses down instead of a block away?

 

The victim's attorney is a total sleazebucket, but Araiza's attorney is like "amateur hour".

 

 

16 minutes ago, Motorin' said:

At the same time, his attorney isn't denying that he had sex with a girl he just met outside the house. So he was just there to hang out in the yard and have sex? 

 

https://twitter.com/Matt_Bove/status/1562958512015101958?t=w9miHXJR1w7BuJQPujRjPA&s=19

 

According to the lawsuit, Araiza lived there. 

 

 

[Motorin']

Just now, Beck Water said:

 

"It wasn't a party, it was just put out on Snapchat as such and welcomed 4 scanty Halloween costumed young women to join their private chill gathering"

 

Araiza's attorney will have to educate us on the fine distinctions between a "gathering of football players" at which young "single and lookin' to mingle" ladies feel welcome vs. a "party".  Maybe the music can only be heard 3 houses down instead of a block away?

 

The victim's attorney is a total sleazebucket, but Araiza's attorney is like "amateur hour".

 

 

 

According to the lawsuit, Araiza lived there. 

 

 

 

Araiza's attorney is denying that he lived there as well. 

 

My guess as to why he said it wasn't a party was to in some way lend credit to the defense that neither Araiza or the victim were drinking much. But Araiza also not drinking much doesn't help any claim that he doesn't remember anything from the night...

 

I don't see a lot of straight shooting here from either legal team. And it definitely comes across as amateur hour. 

 

 

[Beck Water]

20 minutes ago, Herc11 said:

He made a press release yesterday during the game saying he was going to clear his name.

 

IMHO Araiza/his lawyer making a press release during the actual game pissed the hell out of McDermott

[Scott7975]

This thread is moving too fast for me to keep up with.  Everytime I look its like 30 more pages and I dont have time to read them all lol.  So, not sure if this was posted yet or not.  Appologies if so.  Its a whole article and I will leave a snipit.

 

Quote

Armstrong had also told CBS 8 San Diego, "You better believe he did," when asked whether Araiza had disclosed the allegation to teams before he was drafted. But Armstrong has since told ESPN that he misunderstood the question and that he does not think Araiza brought it up before the draft.

 

"I don't know. I don't think it was before the draft," Armstrong said. "I'm almost certain it was after. Apparently I said that, so that was a mistake. But he was forthcoming with the Bills, but I don't think it was until after he was drafted because he didn't know that this was ever going to go anywhere until the L.A. Times article came out, I think around, whatever it was, five or six weeks ago."

 

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/34460423/buffalo-bills-punter-matt-araiza-two-san-diego-state-football-players-accused-gang-raping-minor-lawsuit

Edited August 27, 2022 by Scott7975

[Jay_Fixit]

14 minutes ago, nedboy7 said:

Well said by Eisen...

 

 

 

And yet we all just breeze over the fact it’s a ***** punter.

 

Gimme a break. 

[Mrbojanglezs]

12 hours ago, wppete said:

Where are the Pegulas in this? Where’s Kim Pegula the person standing for women equality. A bunch of hypocrites…. Never thought this Bills regime and owners would let this happen. 

 

Have we seen or heard from Kim since her medical situation? 

[Motorin']

4 minutes ago, Scott7975 said:

This thread is moving too fast for me to keep up with.  Everytime I look its like 30 more pages and I dont have time to read them all lol.  So, not sure if this was posted yet or not.  Appologies if so.  Its a whole article and I will leave a snipit.

 

 

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/34460423/buffalo-bills-punter-matt-araiza-two-san-diego-state-football-players-accused-gang-raping-minor-lawsuit

 

Araiza's attorney also told CBS San Diego that there was a Twitter page created in December of 2021 that was detailing the allegations against Araiza and the SDS football team. 

 

I wonder if that still exists and if the Bills knew about it?

[Mike in Horseheads]

2 minutes ago, Mrbojanglezs said:

 

Have we seen or heard from Kim since her medical situation? 

No and she shouldn't get dragged into this

 

[NoSaint]

30 minutes ago, mannc said:

I agree, but it's not easy to find an attorney who's adept at this sort of case.  Do you hire a criminal defense lawyer, a civil litigator, or both?  Not many lawyers are experienced at defending this sort of high profile criminal/civil matter and even some of the most renowned and experienced attorneys screw it up (see Rusty Hardin and Deshaun Watson).  Very few defense lawyers are media-savvy...they mostly live by the credo of "not trying the case in the media", which is exactly what has to be done right now, IMO. 

you very clearly hire both a civil and criminal and let them handle their sides while sharing info 

[Mrbojanglezs]

2 minutes ago, Mike in Horseheads said:

No and she shouldn't get dragged into this

 

 

I'm not saying she should be people are clamoring for her to say something in public but we still don't know what happened to her and how well she is 

[Scott7975]

4 minutes ago, Motorin' said:

 

Araiza's attorney also told CBS San Diego that there was a Twitter page created in December of 2021 that was detailing the allegations against Araiza and the SDS football team. 

 

I wonder if that still exists and if the Bills knew about it?

 

This whole thing is just terrible.  I honestly dont think the Bills knew of this.  Like they probably knew something happened but not how disgusting of a thing this really is.  I can't imagine they would have kept this kid if they did know.  Honestly I am surprised he is still on the roster.