OT Matt Araiza - Accused Of Rape

[dmac_bolt]

I have a different perspective than most on all of this.

First, what has been filed against Araiza is a civil lawsuit. Apparently, there is no criminal action filed or to be filed. That is somewhat telling as it suggests that even with the alleged recording, the district attorney's office did not think the case could be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. While that does not negate the possibility of proof at the lower civil standard of proof (a more likely than not standard), as in the O.J. Simpson case, at a minimum, that suggests the possibility that the "we have you dead and stinking" allegations of paragraph 15 of the complaint regarding the content of the recording may be being overstated by the young woman's attorney.

Yet, it seems that nobody on this forum has even considered the possibility that the complaint, which at best contains the allegations of an admittedly very intoxicated person (which potentially affects her credibility), may be false or at least false as related to Araiza, who would be a good person to name in a lawsuit since he is/was an NFL player (i.e., someone with a comparatively deep pocket).

As someone who responds to complaints and other allegations routinely for a living, it is absolutely the case that just because someone writes something down on a piece of paper, that does not make that something true--even as to what was reportedly recorded as that could be being mischaracterized as well.

I, for one, find it to be a poor move on the part of the Bills that they released Araiza absent an adjudication or solid proof on the matter. The "we are going to let Matt focus on this" is a total cop out by the Bills. There is nothing preventing Araiza from playing football and aiding his attorney in the defense of the case at the same time. This is just the Bills caving to what it perceives as the inevitable wave of PC and cancel culture BS, something that will continue until people stand up to it and say "enough is enough".

Given that Araiza is not facing any NFL discipline, I would not hesitate to sign Araiza. I do not see how giving a man a high paying position that he has earned with his job performance and that enables him to pay a nice settlement to the alleged victim is a bad thing--for anyone. The NFL team wins by getting the player; the player wins by getting a higher paying job; and the alleged victim wins because the player is making an NFL salary instead of working at a local car wash making minimum wage.

And I think I can tell you at least person that privately would agree with me on that subject--and that is the young woman's attorney. As someone that represents plaintiffs regularly, I can tell you that having someone that can actually pay a larger settlement is always helpful to a client that has suffered significant harms and losses. These lawsuits are filed to help the alleged victim, not to destroy the alleged tortfeasor.

I am predisposed to lean towards liberty until proven otherwise. In this case, the fact they have audio of her calling him and he talked to her about getting checked for STEDis admission of some involvement of something … idunno … we will see.

[dmac_bolt]

Life is so much easier when you do the right thing.

Amen. When i was young, reckless, intoxicated and surrounded by degenerates and deviants who’d do extraordinarily reckless, dangerous, harmful and oft illegal things, i often woke up with an unsettled feeling of anxiety and foreboding - wondering if I’d done something that would come back.

I’ve woken with a clear conscience and peace of mind for over 30 years, calmly confident i didnt cheat, steal, rob, abuse, harm or otherwise digress across not just societal lines but my personal moral and ethical lines which are set well above legalistic boundaries.

Its the extreme of the axiom that if you tell the truth, you never have to remember what you said. If you can’t tell the truth, you need to change what you do until you can.

[Boltjolt]

Araiza admitted they had sex and he took her to a room with other dudes in it. Not to mention he may have given her a STD. Good dude.

Chain, that's spoken like a true defense attorney who defends POS clients all the time.
If it were your Daughter I'm sure you would feel different. If it were mine I'd punt him right in his nut sack.
As for the Bills releasing him, some teams have morals and don't want players who take advantage of drunk minors so sorry, I disagree once again.

[Guest]

Bills know more than you and I. I have no doubt they know he’s guilty.

This is a civil lawsuit. Araiza is not "guilty" of anything as he has not been accused, much less convicted of any crime by any entity authorized to charge him with one. Araiza may or may not be found to be liable for the woman's alleged damages. But that is not the point at all. The point should not be to punish Araiza, but to help the alleged victim if the allegations are true, and Araiza if the allegations are false, all while helping the team at the same time. This result should not be the least bit controversial as it is the one result that allows everyone involved to benefit. It is the best result for all of the parties involved and really nobody else's business.

If Araiza is liable, the Bills would actually be helping the alleged victim by keeping Araiza on the roster (and here I am making an assumption that the Bills will try not to pay Araiza some or all of his contracted compensation based on some morals clause, which I am assuming is in his contract). But society must have its pound of flesh even if it is at the cost of the young woman being compensated even assuming she is entitled to compensation and the Bills lack the spine to back everyone off.

[Velo]

Araiza admitted they had sex and he took her to a room with other dudes in it. Not to mention he may have given her a STD. Good dude.

Chain, that's spoken like a true defense attorney who defends POS clients all the time.
If it were your Daughter I'm sure you would feel different. If it were mine I'd punt him right in his nut sack.
As for the Bills releasing him, some teams have morals and don't want players who take advantage of drunk minors so sorry, I disagree once again.

It's always "let's don't ruin the young man's life for one mistake he made." Never do I hear these guys have any concern about how the young girl's life was ruined. I wrote about my own sister's experience with a situation like this in the WOYM thread. She was 14 and tried to take her own life after it happened. Fortunately, due to her strength, she got through it and has had a good life. But a lot of sexual assault victims - particularly if they are underage - don't recover. So, yeah, I have no sympathy whatsoever for Araiza.

[jamrock]

Guest

You are critical of bills but on the flipside I’m not going to praise the bills for doing what they did either…they have one of the best teams in their history poised to make a serious superbowl run so it makes sense they don’t want to let a punter put a damper on all that…. at the end of the day araiza is a punter not a quarterback…it makes me wonder if these allegations were aimed at josh allen would the bills have done what they did yesterday? The answer to that question is at the heart of all this shit, you mentioned cancel culture but what if anything has it actually changed? Watson is a good example, he’s a fucking predator but he gets to keep play QB in the NFL after a couple months, you got owners left and right getting away with crazy shit even after an army of women took proof and testimony to congress in the washington case, there was video proof in the dallas case, in Houston the texans are run by one of the most religious owners in the NFL and yet they provided the services that Watson (and other texans players) took advantage of and that story just disappeared with the texans writing a few checks (tax right off?), and nobody is cancelling any of those assholes, not when the NFL juggernaut made 95 billion last year…so feel free to stand up for the daniel snyder’s of the world because a few people want them held accountable for the same crimes you and I would go to jail for…those poor men are so victimized so let’s organize your movement and stand up for their rights…

we saw this play out in pittsburg, ben raped a woman in a public bathroom while his off duty police officer bodyguard friend obstructed the investigation on his behalf and the steelers made a few public statements but he was never in any danger of being cut…it’s disgusting shit…and now ben is born again, with a beautiful family, and I believe he’s the father of 1-2 little girls?

You answered your own question. If it was Josh Allen we’d see an entirely different position from the Bills. More like the Steelers took with Big Ben.

[Fouts2herbert]

It's always "let's don't ruin the young man's life for one mistake he made." Never do I hear these guys have any concern about how the young girl's life was ruined. I wrote about my own sister's experience with a situation like this in the WOYM thread. She was 14 and tried to take her own life after it happened. Fortunately, due to her strength, she got through it and has had a good life. But a lot of sexual assault victims - particularly if they are underage - don't recover. So, yeah, I have no sympathy whatsoever for Araiza.

Even convicted serial killers get more respect than women…the florida judge that pronounced sentence on ted bundy told him that it was a tragedy that he had wasted his life and that he’d made a fine lawyer and that he’d have been honored to have had him in his court…how’s that for putting women in their place…

I don’t believe the judge ever mention the women or their families…there were 30 something known victims and another 30 missing that experts estimated bundy might’ve killed based on him living near the area where they went missing…

here’s the video…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2NvKZFVP-Y

[Guest]

Guest

You are critical of bills but on the flipside I’m not going to praise the bills for doing what they did either…they have one of the best teams in their history poised to make a serious superbowl run so it makes sense they don’t want to let a punter put a damper on all that…. at the end of the day araiza is a punter not a quarterback…it makes me wonder if these allegations were aimed at josh allen would the bills have done what they did yesterday? The answer to that question is at the heart of all this shit, you mentioned cancel culture but what if anything has it actually changed? Watson is a good example, he’s a fucking predator but he gets to keep play QB in the NFL after a couple months, you got owners left and right getting away with crazy shit even after an army of women took proof and testimony to congress in the washington case, there was video proof in the dallas case, in Houston the texans are run by one of the most religious owners in the NFL and yet they provided the services that Watson (and other texans players) took advantage of and that story just disappeared with the texans writing a few checks (tax right off?), and nobody is cancelling any of those assholes, not when the NFL juggernaut made 95 billion last year…so feel free to stand up for the daniel snyder’s of the world because a few people want them held accountable for the same crimes you and I would go to jail for…those poor men are so victimized so let’s organize your movement and stand up for their rights…

we saw this play out in pittsburg, ben raped a woman in a public bathroom while his off duty police officer bodyguard friend obstructed the investigation on his behalf and the steelers made a few public statements but he was never in any danger of being cut…it’s disgusting shit…and now ben is born again, with a beautiful family, and I believe he’s the father of 1-2 little girls?

This may come as a shock to you, but none of the people you named were convicted of any serious crime whatsoever or were found civilly liable for any seriously bad conduct (as far as I am aware).

And I will guarantee you that the settlement releases signed by all of the people that filed suit against Watson contained a provision in which Watson expressly denied all allegations and liability whatsoever and further stated that the monies paid were paid merely so that Watson could buy his peace and not have to deal with the hassle of the litigation.

So what exactly has been proven amid the allegations that you have described?

Yet, by your post, you seem to assume that all of those allegations have been conclusively established.

[Boltnut]

Life is so much easier when you do the right thing.

Right...!? Becoming harder every day. I remember when "The Golden Rule" was a good thing...
People film their own crimes/aggressions... either thinking A) they're doing nothing wrong, or B) are able to rationalize poor behavior/offensive language.

[Fouts2herbert]

This may come as a shock to you, but none of the people you named were convicted of any serious crime whatsoever or were found civilly liable for any seriously bad conduct (as far as I am aware).

And I will guarantee you that the settlement releases signed by all of the people that filed suit against Watson contained a provision in which Watson expressly denied all allegations and liability whatsoever and further stated that the monies paid were paid merely so that Watson could buy his peace and not have to deal with the hassle of the litigation.

So what exactly has been proven amid the allegations that you have described?

Yet, by your post, you seem to assume that all of those allegations have been conclusively established.

So true and OJ was innocent because he was acquitted too…

[Hadl2Alworth]

It's always "let's don't ruin the young man's life for one mistake he made." Never do I hear these guys have any concern about how the young girl's life was ruined. I wrote about my own sister's experience with a situation like this in the WOYM thread. She was 14 and tried to take her own life after it happened. Fortunately, due to her strength, she got through it and has had a good life. But a lot of sexual assault victims - particularly if they are underage - don't recover. So, yeah, I have no sympathy whatsoever for Araiza.

And the victims aren't always girls. My father molested me for years. At least from 8 years old to 17. That - and a combination of other messed up things (like Mom abandoning me to Dad the molester/hitter when she ran off to another state with a man) - made my life HELL growing up and into adulthood. I don't trust anyone. I'm always in panic mode with so much fear that I just stay inside my apartment all the time. And I'm 59 years old. I don't want anyone's sympathy. But I can back up your assertion that victims don't always recover so well. I'll leave you with this...When my father would molest me he'd smile at me. That was literally the only time he would ever smile at me. It was hell growing up with him for me. At least he's dead now.

[Guest]

Even serial killers get more respect than women…the florida judge that pronounced sentence on ted bundy told him that it was a tragedy that he had wasted his life and that he’d made a fine lawyer and that he’d have been honored to have had him in his court…how’s that for putting women in their place…

I don’t believe the judge ever mention the women or their families…there were 30 something known victims and another 30 missing that experts estimated bundy might’ve killed based on him living near the area where they went missing…

here’s the video…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2NvKZFVP-Y

I am sorry, but your agenda driven revisionist history is utter nonsense.

First, this was the sentencing of Bundy and therefore comments about Bundy and the path he took in life were entirely appropriate for such a proceeding.

Second, this judge stated that he independently arrived at and agreed with the recommendation of the jury that Bundy receive the death penalty. So, your post kind of buries the lead of the video that the judge just sentenced Bundy to death.

Third, what the judge said was 100% true. By all accounts, Bundy was a bright law student that had real potential in life. Part of his unfortunate success as a serial killer stemmed from him being bright charming, and very likable, which are desirable traits in life. Everyone could see that in Bundy. So the judge noted that it was a tragedy that such a bright and talented person as Bundy took the path in life that he took because he could have been a good attorney and one that he would have liked to have had practice before him instead of...you know, being a serial killer.

Fourth, I can tell you from years of personal experience as a hearing officer (kind of a quasi-judicial function), that when a younger person does something to throw his/her life away, it does strike you that things did not have to be that way for that person and that the person's life situation really is tragic. It is not an uncommon thought for someone in that role reviewing the events of someone's life that has gone awry to have.

This was the sentencing of Ted Bundy, not the life celebration event for his victims. SMH....