Roethlisberger's Accuser Says She Told Him 'No'

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#3 and counting.
Anyone see a pattern here? Get drunk, whip it out.

Yup... while some here seem comfortable laying blame on the girls, I have little doubt that a scumbag like Rothlisberger should be behind bars, and that while some of his crimes have surfaced as of late, there are plenty more that have not...

Dirtbag of the highest order... :mulli:
 

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As to why the cop resigned...

Cop who investigated Roethlisberger forced to resign

By Chris Chase
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The Milledgeville, Ga., police officer who first investigated Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger(notes) for sexual assault was pressured to resign this week after a police report detailed profane comments he made about the accuser on the night of the alleged incident.
Sergeant Jerry Blash was told to resign or face termination following the revelation that he made derogatory comments questioning the sobriety of the accuser and the veracity of her claims following the incident. The eight-year police veteran had already gained noteriety when a photo was released of him posing with Roethlisberger at the bar before the incident took place (above).

TMZ reports Blash admitted to investigators that he made expletive-laden statements about the accuser in which he doubted her claims because of how much alcohol she consumed that evening. He also reportedly told the accuser and her friends that Roethlisberger "had a lot of money" and pursuing a police report would be a waste of time.

On April 12, Ocmulgee Circuit District Attorney Fred Bright said that the two-time Super Bowl winning quarterback would not face charges stemming from the incident because the accuser's claims couldn't be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Exhaustive interviews and medical exams were unable to shed much light on what happened behind a closed door on March 5.

Fairly or not, the impropriety by Blash calls into question the legitimacy of the Milledgeville Police Department's investigation into Roethlisberger's actions. Did the quarterback get preferential treatment because of the words of a police sergeant with whom he had become friendly? Did Blash tarnish the reputation of the accuser with his derogatory statement? Or was he simply a rogue cop who used bad judgment in becoming chummy with a big-time athlete?

Another law enforcement official is also under fire because of the incident. A Pennsylvania state trooper is being investigated after he was identified by Georgia officials as the bodyguard who refused to let the accuser's friends check on her when she went to a closed-off portion of the bar with Roethlisberger. Ed Joyner has had permission to moonlight as Roethlisberger's bodyguard since 2005 but is still subject to the agency's code of conduct.
 

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More on the "bodyguard" Cops from PA...

Police ties to Roethlisberger still in question

By JOE MANDAK Associated Press Writer

PITTSBURGH(AP)—A state trooper with Ben Roethlisberger(notes) the night he was accused of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old college student in a Georgia nightclub is subject to the agency’s code of conduct regardless of whether he was working for the Steelers quarterback, state police said.

An ongoing internal investigation will determine whether Trooper Ed Joyner did anything “that could reasonably be expected to destroy public respect for the Pennsylvania State Police or confidence in the state police,” said Lt. Myra Taylor, a state police spokeswoman.

A friend of the accuser said in a statement to police that a “bodyguard” refused to acknowledge that the woman, who had been drinking, was alone with Roethlisberger in the back of a nightclub in Milledgeville, Ga.
Ann Marie Lubatti told police on March 5 that she told the bodyguard, “This isn’t right. My friend is back there with Ben. She needs to come back right now.”

Lubatti said the bodyguard wouldn’t look her in the eye and said he didn’t know what she was talking about.

Georgia investigators later identified that man as Joyner.
Taylor said Joyner had permission from the state police to work off-duty for Roethlisberger since 2005, with his duties including answering phones and fan mail, driving and accompanying the quarterback to charitable events. Joyner’s request to work for Roethlisberger does not include the term “bodyguard” nor is there any reference made to personal protection or similar duties, Taylor said.

A reporter who called Joyner’s barracks Friday was referred to Taylor for comment. The Associated Press could not immediately confirm the trooper’s home phone number.
Roethlisberger’s accuser said in a March 5 statement that the NFL player had sex with her after she was led by another bodyguard - identified by investigators as Coraopolis, Pa., police officer Anthony Barravecchio - to an isolated area in the club.

“Meanwhile, his bodyguards told my friends they couldn’t pass them to get to me,” she wrote in a statement the night of the incident.
Georgia officials announced earlier this week that Roethlisberger would not be charged in the case.

Michael Santicola, Barravecchio’s attorney, said Friday his client “did nothing immoral, nothing unethical and nothing illegal. And any statements made by drunken college girls otherwise is incorrect,” Santicola said.
In interviews with Georgia investigators, witnesses repeatedly described Joyner and Barravecchio as Roethlisberger’s “bodyguards.” The statements were among hundreds of pages of the investigative file made public Thursday by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Santicola said Barravecchio used to work as Roethlisberger’s “personal assistant” but doesn’t anymore. Santicola said he didn’t know whether Barravecchio paid his own way on the trip but said he was “absolutely not” employed as Roethlisberger’s bodyguard at the club.

Coraopolis police Chief Alan DeRusso said Barravecchio is a friend of Roethlisberger’s and was on vacation when he went with him to Georgia. The officer is not suspended or under any kind of internal department investigation and remains on the schedule full-time, the chief said.
“The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has contacted me and as far as I was told from them, they needed nothing from me and they needed nothing from him,” DeRusso said.

DeRusso said his department doesn’t regulate outside work by officers.
Thomas Martinelli, a Michigan attorney and expert witness on police misconduct, said departmental policies on outside work vary widely. He said it’s a bad idea to let officers work as bodyguards while off duty because they could be injured, or open their departments to liability for their actions.

Outside job policies aside, most departments rely on the code of ethics of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. “In there it says, ‘I will keep my private life unsullied as an example to all,”’ Martinelli said.

Referring specifically to the Roethlisberger situation, he said a police agency might well question the presence of officers that night.
“Could one make an ethical argument that these officers should have extricated themselves from this situation before it escalated?” Martinelli said. “You could make that argument on behalf of an agency.”
 

Stout

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Calling on Shane here: Could this case be re-opened? If the department determines that the 1st officer was grossly incompetent, as it appears to be, can they re-open the case. I didn't get into a ton of policing with my CJ degree, but I'm pretty sure the case could be re-opened. No charges have been filed, and we're not even thinking about being near the statute of limitations.
 

Shane

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Calling on Shane here: Could this case be re-opened? If the department determines that the 1st officer was grossly incompetent, as it appears to be, can they re-open the case. I didn't get into a ton of policing with my CJ degree, but I'm pretty sure the case could be re-opened. No charges have been filed, and we're not even thinking about being near the statute of limitations.

I think in most states the SAL on rape is a minimum of 7 years. So I'm sure that it could be reopened. But rape cases are so hard that I doubt it.
 

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I asked my wife about her perspective on the whole incident.

She said that for some reason, society doesn't hold women accountable for their actions.

A woman who is drunk, has DTF written on her face, is basically fawning over him, goes into a secluded bathroom with a guy, should be held just as accountable as the guy for what happened. Ben was drunk too and somehow society puts the quick blame on the guy in a lot of situations when both are at fault.

She does think Ben is a pig and a perv, but she also thinks this girl is wrong and feels bad for both of them. For a lot of women, they say "no" because they don't want to be called a ****, but want to be talked into sex. So when a guys talks them into it, and she feels guilty afterward, is that rape?

Well, I don't agree or necessarily disagree with her, but that comes from her.
 

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