Ontario to ban use of cellphones in school classrooms starting in September
Ontario is introducing a suite of measures that will crack down on cellphone use and vaping in schools.
Former Buffalo Bills punter Matt Araiza will not be charged in connection with an alleged gang rape of a 17-year-old girl at an off-campus party last year when he played football for San Diego State University, prosecutors said Wednesday.
The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office said no charges will be filed against any of Araiza's former Aztec teammates who were also accused in the reported assault in October 2021.
“I am grateful that the district attorney and the San Diego Police Department have discovered all the facts and found no criminal wrongdoing. I am excited to continue my NFL career," Araiza said in a statement issued by his agent, Joe Linta.
The decision followed an investigation involving more than 35 witness interviews and evidence derived from 10 search warrants that included cellphone data and video from the night in question, the DA's office said in a statement.
“Ultimately, prosecutors determined it is clear the evidence does not support the filing of criminal charges and there is no path to a potential criminal conviction. Prosecutors can only file charges when they ethically believe they can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt,” the statement said.
Araiza’s lawyer, Kerry Armstrong, said he and his client were “elated" by what he called the right decision.
“It is my hope that Matt can join an NFL team again and do the thing that he does best—punt footballs eighty yards down the field,” Armstrong said.
The accuser’s attorney Dan Gilleon tweeted, “I am never surprised when a prosecutor does not file sexual assault charges when the victim was intoxicated.”
“It’s a very rare case where the criminal justice system achieves anything satisfactory for the victim of a sexual assault,” Gilleon continued. “Prosecutors cannot file charges unless they can get a unanimous decision (from jurors) who cannot vote to convict unless they’re convinced beyond any reasonable doubt.”
However, Gilleon said he expected a better verdict in his client’s civil lawsuit, where “the focus is on the harm defendants caused her.”
“The defendants will have no sympathizers once the evidence comes out,” he wrote.
The Buffalo Bills declined to comment.
The Bills released the rookie punter in August just days after backing Araiza based on the findings of what the team called its “thorough examination” of the allegations included in the lawsuit.
The accuser, now 18, alleged in the suit that Araiza, then 21, had sex with her in a side yard at an off-campus residence before bringing her into a bedroom where a group of men took turns raping her. She said she went in and out of consciousness as the men assaulted her for about 90 minutes.
She told her friends that night that she'd been raped and reported the assault to police the following day, according to the court filing.
The lawsuit named Araiza along with two former Aztec teammates who are no longer with the team.
The university has been heavily criticized for delaying an administrative inquiry into the allegations. San Diego State officials have said they deferred investigating at the request of police for fear that conducting their own might harm the criminal investigation.
Ontario is introducing a suite of measures that will crack down on cellphone use and vaping in schools.
One person was killed in a six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 in Innisfil Friday evening.
U.S. President Joe Biden is out to win votes by scoring some laughs at the expense of Donald Trump, unleashing mockery with the goal of getting under the former president's thin skin and reminding the country of his blunders.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has issued a recall for a specific chocolate brand sold in Ontario and Quebec.
Quebec is investing $603 million over the next five years to counter what its French-language minister describes as the decline of the French language in the province.
One person has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of a man who fell from a balcony following an altercation inside a Toronto apartment building.
Ukraine's troops have been forced to make a tactical retreat from three villages in the embattled east, the country's army chief said Sunday, warning of a worsening battlefield situation as Ukrainian forces wait for much-needed arms from a huge U.S. aid package to reach combat zones.
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”