PFT: Roethlisberger denies civil allegations of sexual assault

[WoodysGirl]

Posted by Mike Florio on July 20, 2009 8:57 PM ET


In a complaint that reads like the rape allegations made several years ago against NBA star Kobe Bryant, Harrah's employee Andrea McNulty alleges sexual assault against Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in a lawsuit filed last week in Washoe County, Nevada.

But lawyer David Cornwell strongly denied the allegations Monday night, in a statement released to PFT. "Ben has never sexually assaulted anyone; especially Andrea McNulty," Cornwell said.

In the civil suit, which Cornwell confirms was served on Roethlisberger over the weekend and a copy of which our own Gregg Rosenthal has obtained, McNulty alleges that Roethlisberger asked her to come to his hotel room to fix the television, and that he thereafter forced her to have sex with him.

Roethlisberger faces one civil count of assault, one civil count of sexual assault and battery, one civil count of false imprisonment, one civil count of false pretenses, one civil count of fraud, and one civil count of intentonal infliction of emtional distress.

McNulty also claims that the coworkers named in the complaint thereafter defamed her by making allegedly false and inflammatory statements, and by allegedly serving as aiders and abettors of Roethlisberger's alleged misconduct after the fact.

Cornwell, a finalist for the position of NFLPA Executive Director who has represented in the recent past Saints running back Reggie Bush and Browns receiver Donte' Stallworth, points to the fact that no criminal complaint has been filed, and that no criminal investigation has occurred.

"The timing of the lawsuit and the absence of a criminal complaint and a criminal investigation are the most compelling evidence of the absence of any criminal conduct," Cornwell said. "If an investigation is commenced, Ben will cooperate fully and Ben will be fully exonerated."

It's unknown at this point whether McNulty ever has attempted to file criminal charges as a result of the incident, which allegedly occurred in July 2008.

"Ben will not be baited into a public discussion about his personal life, but we will defend
him vigorously," Cornwell said. "The limited value that Ms. McNulty derived from public disclosure of these viciously false allegations is the only value she will ever receive from Ben in this case."

Regardless of how this one turns out, it has the potential to serve as a significant distraction for Roethlisberger as the 2009 season approaches, especially if the lawsuit triggers a criminal probe.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

IIRC, the big difference between this accusation and Kobe's (besides that it sounds like Roethlisberger didn't have sex with this woman) is that the accuser in the Bryant case had co-workers backing up her story whereas here the accuser is filing a complaint against Roethlisberger and her fellow co-workers.

Bryant had two things working for him IIRC, the girl was considered crazy by many (or made to be crazy by Bryant's backers) and the small county in Colorado was simply overmatched by Bryant's legal team and supporters who wanted him to be found innocent. I kind of doubt this goes anywhere since there doesn't seem to be any intercourse (Bryant not only had intercourse, but lied about it to police as well) and it's more of a he-said, she-said at best with her having no support from her fellow co-workers.





YAKUZA

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

I wonder though if Roger Robespierre will invoke the "NFL image" clause and suspend Roethlisbeger for being involved in a scandal even if he is innocent?

Oh yeah how silly of me, he is a Steeler so this will not even make it by Robespierre's secretary.

 

[Bonecrusher#31]

I wonder though if Roger Robespierre will invoke the "NFL image" clause and suspend Roethlisbeger for being involved in a scandal even if he is innocent?

Oh yeah how silly of me, he is a Steeler so this will not even make it by Robespierre's secretary.

Oh Roger will just say the NFL doesn't get involved in civil matters.

 

[batman36]

Rich, please enlighten me: what does IIRC mean? Thanks!

 

[Bonecrusher#31]

Rich, please enlighten me: what does IIRC mean? Thanks!

If I recall

 

[JPM]

If I recall

or if I remember correctly.

 

[AMERICAS_FAN]

I wonder though if Roger Robespierre will invoke the "NFL image" clause and suspend Roethlisbeger for being involved in a scandal even if he is innocent?

Oh yeah how silly of me, he is a Steeler so this will not even make it by Robespierre's secretary.

Why wuold he? He's not a Cowboy so not high profile enough to dent te NFZLs image. Outside of Pitt, nobody really cares about Roethlisbeger.

 

[casmith07]

IIRC, the big difference between this accusation and Kobe's (besides that it sounds like Roethlisberger didn't have sex with this woman) is that the accuser in the Bryant case had co-workers backing up her story whereas here the accuser is filing a complaint against Roethlisberger and her fellow co-workers.

Bryant had two things working for him IIRC, the girl was considered crazy by many (or made to be crazy by Bryant's backers) and the small county in Colorado was simply overmatched by Bryant's legal team and supporters who wanted him to be found innocent. I kind of doubt this goes anywhere since there doesn't seem to be any intercourse (Bryant not only had intercourse, but lied about it to police as well) and it's more of a he-said, she-said at best with her having no support from her fellow co-workers.





YAKUZA

You don't recall correctly, re: the Kobe Bryant case. It was consensual.

 

[THUMPER]

This looks, with what we know so far, like a case of a woman trying to gouge some money from a celebrity.

 

[Yeagermeister]

Goodell waits until they have gone through the legal system before he deals with it. There is no reason to suspend him unless he's found guilty. If or when he's found guilty Goodell will deal with it. He suspended Stallworth indefinitely only after he was found guilty.

 

[Jon88]

She made up one of the worst stories I have ever heard.

I would sue her for lawyer fees and defamation of character. She would have her checks garnished for the rest of her life.

 

[Maikeru-sama]

Let the legal process run its course. The truth will come out eventually.

However, if she is found to have lied, this will serve as an example of why rape is sometimes not taken as seriously as it should be.

 

[WoodysGirl]

In Roethlisberger case, it's important to keep an open mind

Posted by Mike Florio on July 21, 2009 8:48 AM ET
We recently completed a spot with Drew Forrester of WNST in Baltimore, and we discussed at the top of the segment the lawsuit filed against Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

Despite the obvious Ravens rooting bias against anyone from the 'Burgh, Forrester expressed skepticism regarding the case, due to the apparent absence of criminal charges.

Regardless of whether criminal charges were, have been, or will be filed, the fact that Andrea McNulty has opted to proceed in civil court does not automatically make her claims less credible. This isn't a pro se filing that she cobbled together on a first-generation Mac and printed via dot matrix. She has enough evidence and/or tells a sufficiently compelling story to persuade a lawyer to take the case.

Of course, that fact won't impress many of you, given that lawyers don't have the greatest of reputations. But the fact that a lawyer is willing to risk his own reputation by taking the case should at least prompt folks to keep an open mind at this stage of the game.

And the lawyer who took the case, Calvin Dunlap, is no stranger to high-profile litigation. As our own Taco Bill discovered via his own first-generation Mac with dot-matrix printer, Dunlap represented the wife of Nevada's governor in a nasty divorce proceeding.

Our main point for now is that everyone should keep an open mind. No one should presume that Roethlisberger did it, and no one should presume that Andrea McNulty is making it all up.

Then again, the reality is that it's one or the other. We've seen the allegations in the complaint (we'll share the details once we get a certified copy of the document from the courthouse clerk), and this incident was not the result of a misunderstanding.

The complaint makes it clear that either Roethlisberger is guilty as sin, or McNulty has fabricated the entire case.

For now, we're not choosing sides. But we intend to apply the same degree of curiosity and cynicism that we have applied in past legal cases, even if the ultimate outcome means that residing 100 miles from Pittsburgh is about 500 miles too close.


Permalink 0 Comments Back to Top
ESPN ignores Big Ben story, so far

Posted by Mike Florio on July 21, 2009 8:23 AM ET
It's been more than 12 hours since we reported on the existence of a Nevada lawsuit against Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. It's been roughly 12 hours since we reported that the case includes Kobe Bryant-style allegations against the two-time Super Bowl winner.

As expected, the Associated Press has finally caught up with the story, and as usual failed to credit us in any way, shape, or form, despite the quasi-legitimacy that our NBC partnership provides.

But the folks in Bristol, to whose news desk we sent an e-mail not long after the story was published, have said nothing about the lawsuit.

It conjures memories of the Mike Vick "Ron Mexico" lawsuit from several years back, which was flat out ignored by ESPN and others for days, if not weeks.

So why? Would ESPN have squatted on the thing if a member of the NFL reporting army brought this one to the table? Or does the adage "if it's not our news, it's new to us" still apply?

Our money is on the latter.

But let's see if the story makes it into the Tuesday morning SportsCenter loop.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

You don't recall correctly, re: the Kobe Bryant case. It was consensual.

I don't think the girl ever admitted to that publically. Kobe didn't go to trial mainly because the DA's office was far overwhelmed with the resources and supporters Bryant had and the girl was pretty nuts and refused to testify. Furthermore, the accuser filed a civil lawsuit against Bryant and they wound up coming to a settlement (doesn't sound like he was all that innocent to me).




YAKUZA

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I don't think the girl ever admitted to that publically. Kobe didn't go to trial mainly because the DA's office was far overwhelmed with the resources and supporters Bryant had and the girl was pretty nuts and refused to testify. Furthermore, the accuser filed a civil lawsuit against Bryant and they wound up coming to a settlement (doesn't sound like he was all that innocent to me).




YAKUZA

She didn't. He paid her off and she went away. She recanted nothing.

 

[mmurray21]

On the Kobe case, lets not forget the rape kit came back with the seamen of the guy supporting her story and not Kobe's

 

[tyke1doe]

I wonder though if Roger Robespierre will invoke the "NFL image" clause and suspend Roethlisbeger for being involved in a scandal even if he is innocent?

Oh yeah how silly of me, he is a Steeler so this will not even make it by Robespierre's secretary.

I knew someone would go here.

Roger Goodell also realizes that NFL players are targets for false allegations. It's covered, I believe, during the rookie symposium.

Goodell will do nothing unless Big Ben cops a plea. But I don't expect anything to come from this suit.

 

[casmith07]

On the Kobe case, lets not forget the rape kit came back with the seamen of the guy supporting her story and not Kobe's

no, the rape kit came back with multiple samples of semen that weren't Kobe Bryant's, lending itself to assist in proving the willingness of the victim to have consensual sex with multiple partners.

People, let's be serious here - if a woman is raped (a very traumatic experience) they would not simply receive a payoff and just go away. I think many of you are grossly underestimating the psychological and emotional effects of a rape on a woman, and that's very disheartening to me. I personally know two rape victims, and both of them were not able to rest safely until they were certain that their rapists were locked away in jail and the key was thrown away.

While I don't like Roethlisberger as much as the next guy, this case reeks of the same situation as Kobe Bryant's -- probably some alcohol involved, maybe not. Woman might have wanted more than just a one nighter, and now she's mad and trying to get some $ out of the deal.

Also, a lot of you tend to forget the profile for over 90% of rapists - either someone close to the victim OR someone that has committed other similar crimes before or WILL commit them again. VERY rarely do rapists rape once and just go about their business. The fact that neither Ben Roethlisberger nor Kobe Bryant had EVER been previously accused of any sexual harrassment or sexual assault and that Kobe Bryant has not since leads me to believe that rape was never the case.

Please don't just buy into the media hype and the knuckle-dragger mentality of being a hater of an athlete simply because they're not changing old people's tires on the side of the road.


All of this aside, I expect Roger Goodell to do nothing - Ben Roethlisberger doesn't present a "thug-like" image (a nice way of me avoiding other sensitive topics), and thus he'll probably go untouched, just like he's apparently going to go untouched in the media. Just like Goodell did nothing with Matt Jones or Nick Kazcur.

 

[links18]

"But lawyer David Cornwell strongly denied the allegations Monday night, in a statement released to PFT. 'Ben has never sexually assaulted anyone; especially Andrea McNulty,' Cornwell said."

Something doesn't sound right with that quote. Does that mean he didn't sexually assault others less than "especially"? Strange way of wording that.