Three current or former San Diego State University football gamers, including the Buffalo Bills’ newly drafted punter Matthew Araiza, are accused of gang-raping a then-17-year-old young lady at a Halloween celebration last year, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday from the attorney for the plaintiff identified in court documents as Jane Doe.
Araiza, Zavier Leonard and Nowlin “Pa’a” Ewaliko were area of the San Diego State University football team during the time of the alleged event last October.
Araiza said in a statement issued through their attorney that, “The facts of the incident are not what they are portrayed in the lawsuit or even in the press. I look forward to quickly environment the record straight. ”
Earlier, their attorney, Kerry Armstrong, told CNN his client did not rape the accuser.
“He never used any force towards her. She was not visibly intoxicated. This individual did not hand the girl a drink with anything at all in it, ” Armstrong added.
Araiza “hopes it does not affect this career with the Zoysia grass Bills. He actually likes the group and hopes he can stay with them, ” said Armstrong.
Anne Doe says the lady attended a party within the San Diego area with friends, but was separated from them when she met Araiza, based on the lawsuit. The claim additional asserts that Araiza “could observe that Doe was heavily intoxicated” and “handed her a drink anyway. ”
“Doe informed Araiza that she attended Grossmont High School. Araiza, who was 21 years of age, knew or should have known that Doe was a minor, ” the complaint states.
The woman says Araiza led her to a bedroom where “there were at least three other men currently in the bedroom, ” including Leonard and Ewaliko, who were each at least 18 at the time, according to the court record. Shortly after Doe moved into the bedroom, the males allegedly began engaging in sex acts with her, the suit claims.
“Doe had been raped for about an hour or so and a half until the celebration was shut down. Doe stumbled out of the space bloody and crying, ” said the complaint.
Doe reported the alleged occurrence the next day to the North park Police Department and underwent a rape examination at a nearby hospital, according to the legal action. Days later, investigators arranged “pretext” phone calls between Doe as well as the men they had confirmed as her claimed attackers, said what he claims.
“During the call, Araiza confirmed having sex with Doe, even informing her that the girl should get tested for STDs, ” said the claim but when she pressed him about their encounter, “Araiza immediately transformed his tone, stating, ‘This is He Araiza. I don’t remember anything that happened that night, ’ where time he ended the pretext contact by hanging on Doe, ” the complaint alleges.
Ewaliko’s lawyer, Marc Carlos, told CNN inside a phone interview that he sees some difficulties with Doe’s credibility and the circumstances under which usually she reported the event. “The filing of the civil suit will be clearly an attempt to place pressure on the DA to file a case, ” he said.
Ewaliko is not enrolled at San Diego State this particular semester, according to Carlos.
Leonard’s attorney, Jamahl Kersey, said: “We are aware of the suit that was filed last night and we respectfully decrease to comment. ” He said can not comment on their client’s status being a San Diego State college student or player.
The police department has submitted its investigation towards the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office and is being reviewed, the DA’s office said, though officials did not indicate when a getting decision might be made.
CNN has also required comment from police.
The university launched a statement stating it “takes accusations of sexual attack seriously. ” unfortunately he not able to release specific details on the case because of privacy concerns saying the allegations were still under “active university investigation. ” The statement mentioned further that a violation of the university’s student code of conduct could potentially result in “suspension, dismissal or expulsion. ”
“We were recently made conscious of a civil issue involving Matt from October 2021, ” a Buffalo Expenses spokesperson said. “Due to the serious character of the complaint, we all conducted a thorough examination of this matter. As this is an ongoing civil case, we will have no various other comment at this point. ”
Araiza didn’t perform during Buffalo’s 21-0 loss in a pre-season game to the Carolina Panthers on Friday. “At the end during I didn’t feel as if it was right, ” said coach Sean McDermott.
Questioned following the game about the accusations, McDermott described this as an “extremely serious” situation. “We want to find the truth plus figure this out the right way and do the proper thing. ”
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE spokesperson Brian McCarthy said in a statement league officials know about the matter but got no additional opinion.
An NFL participant cannot be suspended for conduct before joining the league. When a person is investigated for actions that take place while an NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE player, prior conduct can factor directly into potential discipline, according to the NFL’s personal carry out policy.
CNN’s Jill Martin and Taylor swift Romine contributed for this report.