![]() In court Thursday, Fraser also agreed to order that police release Araiza’s cellphone tracking data. “I just really find it beyond frustrating that Matt Araiza is still in this case.” “We’ve had descriptions of the videos, however, a picture is a thousand words,” Bush said. “The bottom line is if they get access to these videos, they’re violating child pornography laws,” Gilleon said.Īriaza’s attorneys have previously acknowledged he had sex with the teen in a side yard, but said he never entered the home and that he left before the videotaped encounter in a bedroom.īush said after the hearing that the videos are “key evidence.” After the hearing, Gilleon said he believes that the defense ultimately will not be given access to the video clips. Some of the videos were in a Snapchat format.ĭan Gilleon, the attorney representing the young woman in her civil suit, opposed the release of the videos. Other videos appear to capture several people engaging in sex acts with the teen in a bedroom of the home around 1:30 a.m. in the living room of the home that’s about 30 minutes after a witness said they saw Araiza leave the party. They told the teen that the clips were “point of view” shots, taken from the perspective of the person engaging in the act with the teen. The Union-Tribune obtained an audio recording of the meeting. 7 to explain why the office was not filing criminal charges. Thursday’s ruling came hours before this year’s NFL draft kicked off.Īraiza and co-defendants Nowlin “Pa’a” Ewaliko and Zavier Leonard maintain through their attorneys that they are innocent, and said encounters with the young woman were consensual.Ī prosecutor and district attorney investigator described the videos to the young woman last year, during a nearly two-hour meeting on Dec. The Buffalo Bills drafted him last year, but dropped him months later, preseason, after the young woman filed her civil suit. It was unclear whether the City Attorney’s Office will do so.Īraiza’s attorney, Kristen Bush, said her client wants to move through the civil case quickly, because the punting phenom wants to resume his nascent career. He told the attorneys repeatedly to file an appeal challenging his ruling. He said later that video evidence is “important to the modern world,” and it’s what people look for and trust. Tells you a whole bunch of different things, if you actually can view it.” “It tells you whether or not it was consensual. “It tells you whether or not a crime took place - rape,” the judge said. “I don’t think viewing pornographic or sexual acts - what public interest does that serve? I don’t know.” “I think the case as a whole is of public interest,” Cristech said. But do you also see the situation where there is a public right to know about this. “You are in a really precarious situation,” Fraser said to Cristech. It will be up to the judge overseeing the civil case to determine if the videos can be provided to the defense.ĭeputy City Attorney Jill Cristech, representing San Diego police, fought the request to unseal, arguing that legally the videos are considered child pornography, and police are barred from sharing them outside of criminal prosecutions. Winning the order to unseal them was the first step for his team. And whether they will ever be seen by members of the media or shared with Araiza’s team remains unknown. No one is asking for the videos to be made public. ”That’s about as clear as I can be on this particular order.” “You can come look at it, but you can’t take it with you,” Fraser said. The judge said allowing the media to look at the videos was akin to police allowing reporters to view a confiscated machine gun or 10 pounds of fentanyl. “The media should be able to go in, view it, describe it,” he said. In February, he granted the request of several media outlets, including the Union-Tribune, to unseal sworn affidavits police filed to obtain search warrants.Īttorneys for the media outlets were not at the Thursday hearing, but Fraser said the media had an interest in the matter. Thursday’s hearing was in front of Fraser because he was the judge who initially ordered the videos and other evidence sealed. He and two other former Aztec players say they are innocent. Hearing slated Thursday for battle over release of videos to civil attorneys for Matt Araiza, former SDSU punter accused of assaulting teen. Public Safety Recording details prosecutors’ decision not to file criminal charges in SDSU rape case
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