SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Ten search warrants were unsealed on Thursday in connection to the rape case involving several former San Diego State University football players.
Several local news organizations, including ABC 10News, went to court to get the warrants unsealed. In a hearing on Feb. 10, a judge granted a legal request from ABC 10News and other media organizations to unseal warrants from the investigation. The warrants were released nearly two weeks later as officials worked to redact sensitive information.
The warrants were filed by the San Diego Police Department after a then 17-year-old girl accused star SDSU punter and former Buffalo Bills player Matt Araiza and two others of rape at an off-campus Halloween party in 2021. Those accusations were laid out in a lawsuit the woman filed against Araiza, Zavier Leonard and Nowlin Ewaliko.
The Buffalo Bills cut the rookie punter in Aug. 2022after the woman came forward with her allegations. In Dec. 2022, the San Diego County District Attorney's Office decided not to pursue charges of rape. The DA's Office "opened a separate investigation into alleged possession of unlawful pornography" by Ewaliko. In a December news release, they confirmed the investigation is not connected in any way to the alleged sexual assault.
The Team 10 investigative team reviewed the warrants, which included hundreds of pages. In the warrants, San Diego police requested information from various technology companies including Apple, Facebook, Google, Instagram, Verizon, Snapchat and T-Mobile/Metro PCS.
A warning: some readers may find the following details disturbing.
The probable cause in the warrant affidavit stated that the teenager—identified only as Jane Doe—went to several parties that night with friends. According to the court documents, Doe and her friends went to the party where several SDSU football players were in attendance. They arrived “around 11:00 p.m. or midnight” on October 16, 2021.
According to one of the search warrant affidavits, a friend of Doe said Doe admitted to having sex with a man at the party. The documents went on to say, “At some point, [name redacted] looked around for Doe and could not see her anywhere… After about 30 minutes she became concerned about Doe.’"
After her friends located Doe a short time later, the affidavit stated that “Doe’s fairy costume was disheveled” and "Doe looked distressed, confused, and said, ‘Guys I’m bleeding everywhere.'”
Doe then told an unnamed friend that several males touched her and hit her during the party. “[Name redacted] asked Doe if she was raped and Doe said yes,” according to the documents. Doe also believed she was being recorded.
Another one of Doe’s friends said that he “saw she had possible blood on her left cheek and chin area.”
"Doe's clothes looked like they were falling off and Doe had bruises on her neck and blood on her clothes," according to a statement from someone else at the party.
Doe filed a civil lawsuit against Araiza and two other former SDSU football players, Zavier Leonard and Nowlin Ewaliko. That case is ongoing, and the trial for the lawsuit is slated for October.
“I 100% do not believe that he ever forcibly raped this girl or had sex with her while she was passed out or drunk or anything like that,” Araiza’s lawyer, Kerry Armstrong told ABC 10News in Aug. 2022.
Team 10 reached out to Doe's attorney, Dan Gilleon, Thursday afternoon and he shared this statement:
"We didn't object to the warrants being unsealed. The truth favors the victim in this case. What seems to have gone unnoticed about the warrants being issued is this: the Judge who signed the warrants first found there was probable cause that a crime had been committed. The fact the DA didn't file charges changes nothing about the Court's decision. It's important to remember that, unlike the Public Defender, a District Attorney is a politician, who doesn't want to risk tarnishing her record with cases she can't be guaranteed to win. Until our country starts appointing DA's, not electing them, this risk averse mentality will continue, in favor of criminals."
The attorneys representing Araiza sent ABC 10News the following statement:
"We greatly appreciate the thorough investigation by the San Diego Police Department of Jane Doe’s serious allegations. The released warrants again confirm the innocence of Matt Araiza and the fact he should never have been named in this civil lawsuit. Jane Doe’s inconsistent narrative is highlighted by the eyewitnesses and her own friends who accompanied her the night of the party. Matt Araiza did not participate in any sexual assault. He never entered the home with Jane Doe. We again urge Jane Doe to dismiss her unsupported lawsuit against Matt Araiza so both can move on with their lives."
This a developing story ABC 10News is working through, please check back for updates.
