A woman who once alleged that she had been sexually assaulted and forcibly raped by former San Diego State and Buffalo Bills punter Matt Araiza has agreed to dismiss its civil suit.
Authorities in San Diego had done that before declined to pursue criminal charges against Araiza and determined that he was not at the party in question when the alleged gang rape took place. Araiza admitted to having sex with the girl, who was 17 at the timethe night of the party, but did not know she was underage – he assumed she was older because it was a frat party – and vehemently denied any other contact with her.
The Buffalo Bills cut Araiza in August 2022 after the first allegations were made against him. Had a buffalo reportedly known about the accusations already the month before.
In exchange for the woman dropping the civil suit, Araiza dropped a defamation suit against the woman. According to Yahoo Sports, Araiza does not admit any guilt or make any monetary payments to her.
“The victory is bittersweet,” said Araiza’s attorney Dick Smerdjian. “Matt has been forced to spend the last 16 months defending himself against false accusations and a campaign to ruin his NFL career. He will never get this time of his life back.”
Local prosecutors met with the woman last spring and said evidence collected established that Araiza had left the home before the alleged gang rape took place.
“He wasn’t even at the party anymore,” said Deputy District Attorney Trisha Amador. “All I know is that suspect Araiza disappeared from the group at that time.”
Additional video recordings of the incident prevented prosecutors from proving forcible sexual assault occurred.
Since being cut by the Bills, the New York Jets brought Araiza in for a workout but did not sign him. According to columnist Dan Wetzel, “numerous” NFL teams were hesitant to sign Araiza while a civil lawsuit was still pending.
“We cannot emphasize enough the importance of the presumption of innocence to our legal system,” Semerdjian said. “Matt has always maintained his innocence despite the public outcry that arose when he was falsely accused of crimes and civil assaults. Fortunately, there was extensive evidence that was critical to Matt’s voluntary dismissal from this lawsuit.”
