Former Buffalo Bills punter Matt Araiza and former teammates on the San Diego State football team will not face criminal charges in connection with an alleged gang rape of a minor that occurred at an off-campus party in October 2021, the San Diego County District Attorney's Office announced Wednesday.
"Ultimately, prosecutors determined it is clear the evidence does not support the filing of criminal charges and there is no path to a potential criminal conviction," the district attorney's office said in a statement. "Prosecutors can only file charges when they ethically believe they can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt."
The DA's office said the San Diego Police Department did not recommend charges be filed when the case was submitted in early August. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BWillie:
… I dont think employers should be able to fire somebody just because they are charged. They SHOULD have to be convicted or take a plea before they are allowed to take action …
Is it safe to assume that you're not an employer? [Reply]
1 1/2 hours… black & blue bruises around and on the throat area.
“…The lawsuit states that Araiza, who was 21 at the time, then took her inside the home, where at least three other men, including the other two defendants named in the suit -- Araiza's then-Aztecs teammates Zavier Leonard and Nowlin Ewaliko -- were located, and that she was repeatedly raped for about 1˝ hours. An initial crime report obtained by ESPN said the girl sustained "severe black and blue bruising to her neck and throat region," in addition to a half-inch laceration to her upper forehead. She had bruising on her right leg and noted "vaginal pain and bleeding from the incident."
Originally Posted by BWillie:
We are increasingly living in a society where any accusation will ruin anyone's career. Now sometimes where there is smoke where there is fire but I dont think employers should be able to fire somebody just because they are charged. They SHOULD have to be convicted or take a plea before they are allowed to take action. I realize thst is not the world we live in but this is the entire reason we have a justice system.
Also contrary to popular belief the age of consent in almost every state is not 18. In this case the accuser was 17. 21 vs 17 is rarely a statutory case in most states, which should make sense to anyone who was that age before.
Ok, then consider that he had sex with a minor. Did so knowing he had STDs. And by all indications had rough enough sex that she was bruised up. You don’t have to have a guilty charge to raise red flags as an employer. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla:
Where do you stand on people who have been charged, but not convicted, of crimes?
Innocent until proven guilty. Too many times we've been told ABC and then when the facts actually come out it is XYZ. This used to be a ground rock principle in this country, and is a constitutional right. Mob justice is not justice.
This case sucks because of a bungling SDPD we won't ever really know the truth.
I lean towards something probably happened, but we really don't know. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Straight, No Chaser:
1 1/2 hours… black & blue bruises around and on the throat area.
“…The lawsuit states that Araiza, who was 21 at the time, then took her inside the home, where at least three other men, including the other two defendants named in the suit -- Araiza's then-Aztecs teammates Zavier Leonard and Nowlin Ewaliko -- were located, and that she was repeatedly raped for about 1˝ hours. An initial crime report obtained by ESPN said the girl sustained "severe black and blue bruising to her neck and throat region," in addition to a half-inch laceration to her upper forehead. She had bruising on her right leg and noted "vaginal pain and bleeding from the incident."
Originally Posted by lawrenceRaider:
Innocent until proven guilty. Too many times we've been told ABC and then when the facts actually come out it is XYZ. This used to be a ground rock principle in this country, and is a constitutional right. Mob justice is not justice.
This case sucks because of a bungling SDPD we won't ever really know the truth.
I lean towards something probably happened, but we really don't know.
In this case we know what happened. The courts just didn’t know if it qualifies as rape. They have a recorded phone call, documentation of her bruises and a rape kit. I don’t know if this means he should be permanently canceled but there seems to be plenty of evidence to show what happened. It’s more the illegal intent that’s unproven. [Reply]
I personally had friends in college that ****ed around with some girls that were underaged. The thing is, they looked like college girls, acted like college girls. Hell, I would have nailed one of them if so inclined.
They got in trouble for sneaking out one night by their parents, and guess who got blamed for ALL of their problems, stuff that had nothing to do with them. Said that my friends got them drunk and took advantage of them. Thing is they came by in the middle of the day to screw all the time. During school. All bullshit.
Ruined one guys life and the other was smart and denied everything. [Reply]
The problem is that rape is one of the hardest things to prove without a doubt in the eyes of the law. Even if the victim does everything right the attacker can go free due to "lack of evidence"
The truth is all of us know someone that has been raped or sexually assaulted and nothing ever happened to the attacker. I think that's why the mob mentality is so strong with things like this. Because we all know or are someone who has been in a similar situation. [Reply]
Originally Posted by RedinTexas:
Unfortunately, the fact that they're not pressing the charges doesn't mean the guy is innocent. I'm not saying he's guilty. We just don't know that he's innocent.
Innocent until proven guilty is one of the main concepts this country was founded on. You shouldn't give an inch on this concept, not an inch. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Wallcrawler:
I guess just keep your fingers crossed that nobody makes an accusation against you of this caliber.
In the meantime, judge away, your honor.
Well, most people don't get trashed at parties and proceed to have "consensual" sex with another trashed person, and are decent enough people overall to never have to worry about such a thing happening.
And I don't like the social media pressure mob mentality of consequences now and figure it out later, but also putting this in such a way where just anyone can be accused of rape is also ridiculous.
(also not saying it was definitely rape or whatever, but acting like it's black and white is dumb) [Reply]