[Editor’s note: On September 10, 2009, lawyer David Cornwell released a statement in response to the recent court filings made on behalf of the woman accusing Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger of sexual assault. The full text of it appears below.]
Before Ben Roethlisberger allegedly lured her into his room to fix his television, [the accuser] wrote: “Hail Mary full of grace give me the strength to not go to [Ben Roethlisberger’s] room to fix his television.” (July 11, 2008).
Before she was allegedly raped, [the accuser] wrote: “Hail Mary full of grace Ben is so effing hot and I am bored.” (July 11, 2008).
Less than 24 hours after she was allegedly raped, [the accuser] said: “This golf tournament has been really fun ...I am really excited because we are all going to see Journey tonight and that will be sooo much fun. Speaking of which I need to head over to dinner with [Ben Roethlisberger]...” (July 12, 2008).
Now, 14 months later, this disturbed woman’s lawyer submits confused and fanciful ramblings in a desperate attempt to salvage their lawsuit and his career. [The accuser’s] contemporaneous statements, only some of which are quoted above, expose her lawyer’s scheme.
This lawyer is as willing to mislead the public as he is to abuse the litigation process. For example, he made public our settlement offer and his recent, bizarre settlement proposal and then relied on the latter to claim that his scheme is not about money. Yet, in July 2009, in a settlement request that he has not publicized (attached), the lawyer sought over $2.8 million to resolve [the accuser’s] claims.
Given her admitted and obviously unstable mental state and the possibility that she is being manipulated by an unscrupulous lawyer, we remain willing to give [the accuser] a limited benefit of the doubt (relating to her motivations only because her allegations are demonstrably false). Her lawyer, however, does not deserve and will not receive similar consideration.