Former Buffalo Bills punter Matt Araiza no longer is facing a sexual assault lawsuit, his attorney said.
The woman who claimed in the summer of 2022 that she was sexually assaulted and implicated Araiza in her claim has agreed to dismiss her lawsuit, according to Dick A. Semerdjian of the San Diego-based law firm Schwartz Semerdjian.
Araiza, 23, was a sixth-round draft choice of the Bills in 2022. He was released by the team on Aug. 27, 2022, two days after a civil suit was filed against him with explosive and graphic charges of a gang rape against the woman at a house party near the San Diego State campus in October 2021.
“Matt has reached an agreement requiring the plaintiff to dismiss her complaint against him in the next week,” Semerdjian said in a statement. “Matt is not paying the plaintiff any money, and he is reserving his right to pursue the plaintiff’s attorney, Dan Gilleon, and his law office for the harm that they have caused him.”
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Araiza has remained unsigned by any pro football team since his release from the Bills. Araiza will be part of a news conference with Semerdjian at the attorney’s San Diego office on Wednesday.
“While we are here celebrating this victory with Matt and his family, the win is bittersweet,” Smerdjian said in his statement. “Matt has been forced to defend himself for the last 16 months against false accusations and a campaign to ruin his career in the NFL. He will never get this time back in his life.”
Yahoo Sports first reported the agreement.
The rape charges, and their explicit nature, created a national firestorm of attention around Araiza and the Bills. The woman, then 17, alleged that Araiza participated in a group sexual assault that occurred in a bedroom of the house near the college campus. Her 11-page civil suit was filed in San Diego County Superior Court.
Araiza admitted having consensual sex with the girl earlier in the evening but maintained he did not know she was 17. He denied any other contact with the woman. Her attorney said he led her into the house where the rape occurred.
In December 2022, the San Diego District Attorney’s Office reported that Araiza would not face any criminal charges in the case. The San Diego Police Department did not recommend any charges be filed after a lengthy investigation.
The report from the DA’s office was obtained by Yahoo Sports in May, and it was determined by prosecutors that Araiza could not have led the girl into the reported gang rape because he had left the house party at about 12:30 a.m., an hour prior to when the attack was reported to have occurred.
The report said prosecutors told the accuser that “video recordings of the incident in the bedroom made it impossible to determine, let alone prosecute anyone, on whether there was a gang rape at all that night, rather than consensual sex with the other men.”
Araiza filed a defamation suit against the woman in July, which now has been dropped, his attorney stated.
“We cannot overstate the importance to our system of justice of the presumption of innocence,” Semerdjian said. “Matt has always maintained his innocence, despite the public outcry that resulted when he was falsely accused of crimes and civil assault. Thankfully, there was extensive evidence that was key to securing Matt’s voluntary dismissal from this lawsuit. Matt was and has always been innocent. The case is over, and Matt has prevailed. He now has the full intention of returning to the NFL in hopes of resuming a successful punting career.”
Araiza had a tryout with the New York Jets in May but was not signed by the team.
“Matt is appreciative of the San Diego Police Department’s thorough investigation of the allegations, the exonerating video evidence that was uncovered of the incident, and the numerous witness depositions which took place over the course of the last year which confirmed his innocence.”
The attorney for the woman, Gilleon, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Araiza earned the nickname “the Punt God” at San Diego State. He averaged 51.19 yards per punt during the 2021 college season, breaking the NCAA single-season record. He won the Ray Guy Award as the nation’s best college punter.
Araiza appeared to have won the punting job in training camp during the summer of 2022 after the Bills released veteran Matt Haack, Araiza’s competition for the job. Araiza had signed a four-year contract with the Bills that would have been worth a total of $3.8 million had he played all four years of the deal. Araiza received a signing bonus of $216,148. The contract was not guaranteed.
In releasing Araiza two weeks before the start of the regular season, Bills general manager Brandon Beane said it “was the best move for everyone to move on from Matt and let him take care of this situation.”