Roethlisberger the new Kobe?!?

[BudweiserCeltic]

I'm going to be interested in what Goodell does with this.

[crownsy]

I'm going to be interested in what Goodell does with this.

I predict absolutely nothing.

It's a civil matter, and it's one of his golden boys, nothing will be done.

If she had filled criminal charges, or if she has proof and public outcry comes calling, he would/will have to deal with it, but as this stands he won't even address it.

[houseonfire09]

Anyone want to bet that if this were Brady, or ANY player in the NBA, ESPN would be insufferable to watch?  Anyone else in the NFL gets away with murder (like Stallworth).

It's ridiculous...and don't forget those terrible-towel waving buffons were the first ones to jump all over the Pats after spygate

I hope they get the same negative attention that we suffered through

Even if it's not true, it should be reported

At this point, I'm pretty sure "Spygate" was designed by the NFL to make sure the Pats didn't win the title and go undefeated that year.  It's not going to be reported unless Goodell wants it to be.

[RAcker]

I'm not going to call Rothy Kobe just yet.  A lot of what made Kobe look bad came out of his own mouth.

[oldmanspeaks]

According to TMZ reporting, this woman has a past of making stuff up including being engaged to a non-existant soldier, etc.. Was seeing a shrink over that one. The more I read about her the more weird she sounds.http://www.tmz.com/2009/07/21/ben-roethlisberger-sexual-assault-pittsburgh-steelers-superbowl-lawsuit-soldier-mcnulty/

[yall hate]

According to TMZ reporting, this woman has a past of making stuff up including being engaged to a non-existant soldier, etc.. Was seeing a shrink over that one. The more I read about her the more weird she sounds.http://www.tmz.com/2009/07/21/ben-roethlisberger-sexual-assault-pittsburgh-steelers-superbowl-lawsuit-soldier-mcnulty/

Everything from all sides needs to be taken with a grain of salt, but obviously that little nugget is helpful to Ben as well as Harrah's (who she is also suing).

[ReggieLewis#35]

i just seen on the news that woman is alleging the Steelers starting QB to have sexually assaulted her last July.

[illantari]

No idea about the validity of this particular accusation, but I don't think the civil/criminal divide is as problematic as some of you imply.  If a woman doesn't get a rape kit done right away (or if you're in LA, where there's like a 5 year backlog of them), many of these situations become pure he said-she said types, and then it may be that the only way to get any retribution is through the civil system (preponderance of the evidence is a much easier burden of proof to meet than beyond a reasonable doubt).

[crownsy]

ESPN still not reporting anything about it...sigh.

I remember when you used to at least be able to count on the WWL to report everything, if not be impartial. Now for the last two days they haven't said a peep about two major stories.



One story I didn't expect them to, EA is one of their own and i just hope they somehow catch the scumbag...which seems unlikely, but one can hope.

the second though? I have to seriously question the network on that one. We are talking about a matter of public record, she's not accusing him in the press, she filled charges. you would think that would at least rate a mention.

Regardless of where you come down on it, and we really don't know enough about the case yet either way to have an opinion, thats just ridiculous behavior for a news network.

Throw on top of that, when things like this are going on:

http://deadspin.com/5319432/espn-ignoring-biggest-stories-of-the-day-important-updates

you lose alot of respect from me. the key parts to that story are:

UPDATE: PFT's Mike Florio says that ESPN "issued a 'do not report' memo to all of its outlets and reporters" instructing them not to discuss the Roethlisberger case, but did not provide explanation or justification for the order. They pulled a similar move last year on a story they believed not to be true, but that is not the case this time.

it also mentions that it is ESPN's policy not to report on civil matters, which is an abject lie. I remember plenty of coverage of Kobe's civil trial, for one, along with other's i can't name.

 and the censure of an automatic program they supposedly can't control is even worse.

They can claim the above all they want, but I'm hard pressed to believe that if the defendant in this suit was named Terrel Owens, or any other athlete that ESPN isn't in bed with, the story wouldn't at least rate a mention.

[Roy Hobbs]

No idea about the validity of this particular accusation, but I don't think the civil/criminal divide is as problematic as some of you imply.  If a woman doesn't get a rape kit done right away (or if you're in LA, where there's like a 5 year backlog of them), many of these situations become pure he said-she said types, and then it may be that the only way to get any retribution is through the civil system (preponderance of the evidence is a much easier burden of proof to meet than beyond a reasonable doubt).

Civil juries, just like people at large, are going to be prejudiced against her from the start.  People in general assume somebody is a gold digger when they sue celebrities for huge sums of money, especially when they don't go to the cops.

Also, it's interesting that her attorney seems to have made her mental health an issue for trial, by bringing up her depression and linking it to the alleged incident.  If she pursues that claim, it potentially opens the door to discovery of all her psychiatric records.  That one is a tough call for the judge (most likely it results in an in-camera review and a protective order), but I don't think I would have opened the door in the first place.

[CoachBo]

I'll be curious to see if there's any additional evidence.  I'm pretty skeptical any time somebody opts for money, rather than going to the police.

Exactly. This one doesn't pass the smell test.

[crownsy]

I tend to agree on this case, so far.

 but on sexual assault cases it's not uncommon for the victim to not report it right away due to fear, guilt, embarrassment, any number of reasons.

and since the only proof in this kind of cases is often a rape kit, it often rules out any sort of criminal charge.

[yall hate]

Well, despite ESPN's continued refusal to mention this issue, the NFL will now be looking into it

"I don't know enough of the details, but it's a civil lawsuit, it's something that we obviously will look into," Goodell said during an unrelated news conference (presumably, the news conference announcing that the Miami Dolphins have shaved off another piece of the team for a musician).  "I've been in touch with the Steelers about it," Goodell added.

That said, we doubt that the league would take any action absent a criminal case.  But it could get interesting if a jury eventually decides in a civil case that Roethlisberger did what the plaintiff claims that he did.  Though the finding would be based on the lower legal standard of "preponderance of the evidence," it would nevertheless constitute a legal conclusion that Roethlisberger committed a sexual assault.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2009/07/21/goodell-will-look-into-roethlisberger-allegations/

[Kwhit10]

If this was truly sexual assault why didn't she report it to the cops instead of making a civil case out of it?....$$$$$$

[crownsy]

If this was truly sexual assault why didn't she report it to the cops instead of making a civil case out of it?....$$$$$$

see above, something like 40-50% of all rape and sexual assault cases aren't reported until long after any kind of evidence can be taken from the victim, thus making criminal prosecution extremely difficult, when it's even possible.


from what little we know, i tend to think this is pretty sketcy, but not because she didn't tell the cops right away. that's pretty much par for the course in a sexual assualt case.