Bills never spoke to woman who accused Matt Araiza of rape, woman’s attorney says
An attorney representing the woman who says Buffalo rookie punter Matt Araiza raped her last year when she was 17 said the Bills never spoke to the woman while investigating allegations in a civil lawsuit filed Thursday in San Diego County Superior Court.
The Bills cited their examination, which occurred last month, in deciding to keep Araiza, a sixth-round draft pick out of San Diego State nicknamed “Punt God,’’ whom they named their starter this week.
“They didn’t do an investigation,’’ Dan Gilleon, an attorney representing the woman listed in the lawsuit as Jane Doe, told USA TODAY Sports on Friday. “I mean, you can’t investigate when you don’t even ask the primary witness what happened.
“There’s two people involved. You’ve got to talk to both people.’’
In a statement Thursday, the Bills said they “were recently made aware of a civil complaint involving Matt from October 2021. Due to the serious nature of the complaint, we conducted a thorough examination of this matter. As this is an ongoing civil case, we will have no other comment at this point.”
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On July 31, Gilleon emailed the Bills’ general counsel, Kathryn D’Angelo, and said he represented the woman who accused Araiza of raping her as part of a gang-rape, according to a copy of the email obtained by USA TODAY Sports.
Gilleon has said he spoke to D’Angelo by phone the next day.
“I had one conversation with (D’Angelo),’’ Gilleon said. “Extended conversation. She didn’t ask too many questions. I just did a lot of the talking.
“She said she would get back to me and she never did. And then I followed up with an email to her saying, ‘Hey, two weeks ago you told me you’d get back to me. You haven’t.’ And still no reply whatsoever.’’
It is USA TODAY policy not to identify people who allegedly have been sexually assaulted.
Derek Boyko, the Vice President of Communications for the Bills, did not immediately reply to a request for comment from USA TODAY Sports by phone.
Attorney Kerry Armstrong, who represents Araiza, said he has been in touch with the Bills “quite frequently over the last several weeks.”
“I’m very impressed by the way they’ve treated Matt and by the way they’ve treated me,’’ Armstrong told USA TODAY Sports. “I have given them some information and they’ve conducted their own investigation with their own investigators as well. That’s my understanding anyway.