Comments on: Evidence emerges of a botched investigation in Georgia

By: GirthyOne

GirthyOne — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 11:12:35 +0000

You tell them Deb. Lot of idiots on these sites. Don’t let them get you down.
For all you white haters, quit it. You’re making yourselves look like the back side of a horse! This case (against a white guy) received so much more attention that it would have if he was a regular Joe, black or white. I see DT Eric Foster from the Colts is being accused of the same thing. He is also getting sued in civil court. Are you saying the same things about him? Nope, I checked, none of you said a thing.

By: pats94

pats94 — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 01:25:33 +0000

if ben was black he would already be behind bars

By: this class sucks

this class sucks — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 22:46:06 +0000

Good idea Deb. I am a Steeler/49er fan so if the Steelers are really going to trade Ben I sure hope its to the 49ers.

By: Deb

Deb — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 20:23:53 +0000

@DoomsDay75 … No, that’s not what I said.
@this class sucks … I’m already boycotting threads about Roethlisberger trade rumors because they’re silly. I’ll comment on whatever punishment he gets. After that, I’m moving on.
@spliffbunker … Thank you. Those kind of comments say nothing about me and everything about the people posting them. I know them for what they are. And in some dark corner of their souls, so do they.
@bobzilla … You’re being a smart aleck, but yeah, I have lived quite a life. I’ve survived several battles with cancer as well as sexual assault. When I was raped, I was living in a war zone in another country where I’d gone to write. And sometimes when we were in exceptionally dangerous situations the people I was writing about did assign some of their security staff to me … for free.

By: bobzilla

bobzilla — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 19:15:14 +0000

@Deb: You’ve lived quite a life!!! How many rented cops/bodyguards do you employ? If the answer is zero, maybe you ought to buy some.

By: this class sucks

this class sucks — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 17:39:13 +0000

@DoomsDayD75
Clearly you are an idiot if thats what you read. She is saying that in the situation she was in she feels their was responsibility on both sides.

By: spliffbunker

spliffbunker — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 17:33:46 +0000

Deb:
I continue to be amazed & appalled at the comments directed towards you….as I have posted before I appreciate the research you have
done & understand what your’e saying
you have been very clear & if folks like
DoomsDayD75 says:
April 19, 2010 4:59 PM
& all the others cant understand it’s not your fault
don’t let them get you down…

By: DoomsDayD75

DoomsDayD75 — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 16:59:32 +0000

Did that Deb chick just say it was ok to rape women that get so drunk that they pass out or can’t defend themselves? That’s the craziest shit I’ve ever heard.

By: this class sucks

this class sucks — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 15:25:28 +0000

@Deb
I’m counting on you Deb. You have nothing to prove, just let people comment. If they want to state their opinion on Ben, let them, that doesn’t change anything. If they say things that make no sense, thats fine, don’t respond.

By: Jeff Smith

Jeff Smith — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 15:00:10 +0000

Good article, Florio.
I quit reading the comments after a while (some of the people here are a bit twisted). I did laugh at that “CSI Georgia” crack.

By: Deb

Deb — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 14:46:47 +0000

@Mooch and themag78 …
When asked by the cops and the hospital personnel that night, she repeatedly said she was not raped. She didn’t change her story until the next day after the bathroom had been cleaned. Despite Florio’s snarkiness, I imagine the restroom is cleaned at least once a day.
The cleaning of the bathroom would have had no impact on the results of the rape kit, which was negative for intercourse. That means she wasn’t raped–which is probably why she told the cops she wasn’t sure if she’d had sex.
The only male DNA found on her was a speck so teeny tiny it could not even be tested for identification. You don’t need a very big speck to test for identification so that had to be one tiny speck.
Ben’s an ass, but she wasn’t raped. So there was no crime. So there was no crime scene to secure.
Did anyone catch the footage of the Maryland cops beating the heck out of an unarmed basketball fan for no reason a week or so ago? L.A. cops didn’t secure the Simpson double-murder scene. This isn’t a Southern thing so please leave your bigotry at the door, Mooch.

By: Deb

Deb — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 14:23:09 +0000

@this class sucks …
You’re right, but it won’t go away until the league/the Steelers dole out the punishment. After that we can all get back to football.

By: themage78

themage78 — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 13:53:33 +0000

First OJ, now this. Can any cop do his f*cking job right anymore? I love how these idiots handle valuable evidence.

By: this class sucks

this class sucks — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 13:34:47 +0000

Ok every Steeler fan needs to stop commenting on any Ben related article that in anyway references this incident. All it does is push that article to the top of the most comment and garnish more attention. Just stop talking about it and it will go away. I know other people are talking about it, and several other people’s comments use inane logic, but who cares? They are just guys with computers who would defend their favorite player if he was in Ben’s position. So once again:
ALL STEELER FANS STOP COMMENTING ON BEN RELATED ARTICLES.

By: Deb

Deb — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 13:22:07 +0000

@Jaydub ….
The therapy comment was a direct response to TFBuckFutter’s post. Others on PFT/CFT have posted about their assault experiences. One guy posted about the woman who faked a pregnancy to trap his son. Several have posted about their DUI arrests, experience with the courts, unemployment problems … several have posted about situations involving friends or concerns about their daughters. Most people draw from personal experiences when making points. My experience happens to be applicable to this situation.
I’m anonymous and people close to me know my history, so posting it here isn’t an issue for me. I’ve done the work to make peace with my past. And since I handled it with courage and grace, I’m not ashamed. You’ll have to ask yourself why my mentioning it makes you uncomfortable.
The only time I worry is if my views seem to reflect the majority. I argued passionately for Richard Jewell and the Ramseys when my friends and even my mother (re the Ramseys) wanted them stoned and thought I was nuts. I didn’t know if they were innocent–only that there was no evidence of guilt. Turned out I was right and the majority wrong.
Roethlisberger is a jackass and has problems the Steelers should have addressed before now. But there’s no evidence that he raped anyone. The Nevada accuser’s own text messages and other testimony contradict her story. The Georgia accuser changed her story multiple times and the rape kit shows she was not raped. He can’t be guilty of rape if there was no rape. That doesn’t make him an angel. That’s just what a thorough review of the evidence shows–and I have thoroughly reviewed it.
My goal as an assault survivor is seeing dangerous predators locked up, not appeasing riled-up football fans. And there is no EVIDENCE that he’s a sexual predator–only a self-destructive sleaze who may have a drinking problem. The league needs to stay out of it because they’ve never suspended in a case like this and it would open a can of worms. But the Steelers need to take a hard stand–including suspension, if that’s what it takes–to save this idiot from himself.
The DA said he hopes the girl learned a lesson. So do I. Why would a young college student advertise herself as DTF and repeatedly get blasted out of her mind and throw it out there for men she’s just met? That’s sad. She needs to make changes, too, before she screws up her life.
I’m not the idiot ogre you want to think I am, Jaydub. And this isn’t about football for me.

By: Mooch

Mooch — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 13:09:05 +0000

Not securing the crime scene.
Wow.
And they wonder why we make fun of the South.

By: QBall

QBall — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 12:37:26 +0000

If Roethlisberger raped this girl, then why wasn't his DNA found on her when she was checked at the hospital? How do you rape someone and NOT leave your DNA? The information released by the GBI indicated that investigators only needed a nanogram; i.e. one-billionth of a gram of genetic material to create a profile and that they were unable to do even that. So... how can this guy be guilty of rape?

By: Jaydub

Jaydub — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 05:47:52 +0000

Deb says: April 18, 2010 10:18 PM
@Jaydub and TFBuckFutter …
On the other hand, you two are constantly posting your titillating unsubstantiated theories about a sexual assault allegation that has nothing to do with you or your football teams. Apparently you both just have a sick fascination with rape stories and an unnatural obsession with Roethlisberger.
I think you need therapy.
————————————————
Pot? I’d like you to meet The Kettle
Aren’t you the one repeatedly posting very private information about yourself that everyone has been aware of for weeks upon weeks now? If that doesn’t scream THERAPY, I don’t know what does.
As far as having an obsession about Rapistberger, well…..I guess there are a whole lot of people with that same affliction in this country, considering that any and all sports media has been harping on it since he was initially accused and “mysteriously” exonerated. EVERYONE is talking about it. Only thing is, very few are stupid enough to think he’s innocent. How does it feel to be in such distinguished company?

By: Deb

Deb — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 23:24:51 +0000

@TFBuckFutter …
Oh, that’s right, you’re the Northerner who hates Southerners … another bit of your charm. I don’t live in Georgia. Sorry. Again, there is no evidence the woman was raped. It’s a he said/she said situation and her story changed repeatedly. The rape kit was negative. You keep talking about a rape when the authorities found that to be without merit. I’m not excusing his abominable behavior, just saying you can’t have a rape victim if you did not have a rape.
If you ask Susan Brownmiller, all men are potential rapists. But the man at the party was just a stranger who pulled me into a dark room before my friend pulled me out. I never thought of that as an attempted rape or him as a potential rapist. Maybe that was my mistake. But if I had thought of it at the time, it wouldn’t have mattered. I was in another country. We ended up at the place by accident and left on foot. I don’t know where we were and couldn’t have identified the place or the man if my life depended on it.
The irony of that night is that my friend talked me into “letting go” on vacation because I tend to be very cautious. And no matter what you think, the stupidity I displayed that night does not equate to my other situation–which was completely out of my control. I would not have the same feeling for an idiot that walked up to an African American and said the N-word and got the crap beaten out of him that I have for Matthew Shepard. Sometimes people create their own misery by being drunk or promiscuous or stupid, and sometimes they are victimized just because they are female or black or gay or whatever. I know it’s all equal in the sight of the law. But when you’ve lived it, sometimes it’s hard to be completely dispassionate.

By: SteelBuck

SteelBuck — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 23:05:23 +0000

BigBear123 , are you dumb? I’m sure they swabed her mouth so if it were oral, a DNA sample would be available. By the way, I didn’t know he raped her mouth. Dumb!

By: Deb

Deb — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 22:18:40 +0000

@Jaydub and TFBuckFutter …
It seems natural that a rape survivor, a near lifelong Steelers fan, and the sister of a criminal defense attorney would take a personal interest in this case. And since people keep calling me horrific names for trying to be balanced and say that BOTH parties behaved in a sleazy manner that night, yes, I do mention my own rape story as a way of saying I’m not defending or excusing Roethlisberger.
On the other hand, you two are constantly posting your titillating unsubstantiated theories about a sexual assault allegation that has nothing to do with you or your football teams. Apparently you both just have a sick fascination with rape stories and an unnatural obsession with Roethlisberger.
I think you need therapy.

By: TFBuckFutter

TFBuckFutter — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 21:49:29 +0000

“Jaydub says:
April 18, 2010 9:39 PM
Why, oh why do you insist on bringing this up in every single one of your bullshit posts? Unless you were raped by Ben Roethlisberger, no one here gives a shit. Are you really that starved for attention?”
She thinks her experience gives her license to devalue other women who have “only” been sexually assaulted, and to blame them for it (and even in her own words, absolve someone who attempted to rape HER).
I think she needs therapy.

By: Jaydub

Jaydub — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 21:39:20 +0000

Deb says: April 18, 2010 7:02 PM
@TFBuckFutter …
I was just a couple of years older than the Georgia woman when a man attacked me, forced himself on me while I fought until I was physically overpowered. There was no question in my mind that I’d been raped. I remember every gruelling second.
—————————————————-
Why, oh why do you insist on bringing this up in every single one of your bullshit posts? Unless you were raped by Ben Roethlisberger, no one here gives a shit. Are you really that starved for attention?

By: TFBuckFutter

TFBuckFutter — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 20:02:05 +0000

“Deb says:
April 18, 2010 7:02 PM
@TFBuckFutter …
I was just a couple of years older than the Georgia woman when a man attacked me, forced himself on me while I fought until I was physically overpowered. There was no question in my mind that I’d been raped. I remember every gruelling second.”
Well, it’s lucky for you that people didn’t regularly accuse you of asking for it. Were you dressed in a provocative way?
It must have been really hard for the people you were surrounded by to just stand there and watch you be raped. Or were you alone? Oh, why were you alone? Gee….I guess what happened to you was your fault for not taking more responsibility for youself and being safer, huh?
(I’m being facetious. I am sorry that you’ve been attacked, but I find it odd that someone who has been in that situation could be so willfully hateful of other women in similar situations just because their’s wasn’t as violent, or because they “asked” for it.)
“I once went to a party and had too much to drink and a guy I didn’t know and HAD NOT been flirting with dragged me into a dark room got me on the floor and was all over me. I didn’t resist because I was drunk. My friend came looking for me, whacked him in the head, and dragged me out. Guess who I blamed? ME. And I didn’t run around telling everyone the guy tried to rape me either. I CHOSE to drink too much. I LET a jerk drag me into a room without offering any resistance because I was too intoxicated to offer any. I was an adult, responsible for my body and chose to abdicate that responsibility to alcohol. Fortunately, my friend saved my butt. But that near miss was MY FAULT. Yeah, the guy was a sleaze. So’s Roethlisberger. That doesn’t absolve ME of responsibility for MY behavior. And there’s no way I could confuse THAT with rape.”
There’s a reason people call you an idiot. Do you feel responsible for whomever else that scumbag attempted, or succeeded, in raping? Because you should.
There’s a BIG difference between personal responsibility in protecting yourself, and the legal responsibility of others to not prey on the defenseless. Is it wise to go into a dark alley alone? No. You shouldn’t do that. Is it still a crime if you are robbed, raped, beaten, murdered? Or should that just be chalked up to your own stupidity?
People have a legal right to be safe regardless of their condition or the choices they make. That doesn’t mean they have a cosmic right to it.

By: TFBuckFutter

TFBuckFutter — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 19:55:59 +0000

“QBall says:
April 18, 2010 7:01 PM
You are arguing that drunken sex is, by definition, “rape.” This isn’t true. This confuses “consent” in law with “capacity.” Consent is merely an act of volition (will); it doesn’t require an intelligent choice. Having a drunken escapade that you later regret doesn’t mean that you “didn’t consent.” If drunken sex was outlawed, both parties to the escapade could claim to be “raped,” because any of the touchings that either person performed could be said to be “not consented to” (because of alcohol). So the issue is not that drunk people are forbidden from having sex; the issue is whether one of the drunken parties is being forced to have it, against his or her wishes AT THAT TIME. (http://ludwig.squarespace.com/politics-journal/2010/4/15/the-media-lynching-of-ben-roethlisberger.html)”
http://www.sdcda.org/helping/prevent-rape/index.html
Consent ABSOLUTELY requires an intelligent choice. Which is why it is not LEGAL to obtain it from someone who is incapacitated. From the link: “If she’s wasted, intoxicated, asleep, or unconscious, she cannot give legal consent, even if she said “yes”
That’s from the San Diego County District Attorney. These laws are on the books EVERYWHERE, they just aren’t always implied.
And, for the record, you can’t molest mentally retarded people either. Know why? BECAUSE THEY CAN’T CONSENT.

By: Deb

Deb — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 19:24:31 +0000

@stopthehate …
I’m sorry I answered you sharply. I thought you were being sarcastic. I’ve just gotten so used to it.

By: BigBear123

BigBear123 — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 19:22:44 +0000

He doesn’t point out the fact that the girl claims that 6’5″ Ben Roethlisberger had sex with her while she was sitting on the toilet???
Furthermore, since the rape kit turned up NO DNA on the so-called victim, what possible evidence of any probative value could have been obtained in the bathroom?
————
Use your imagination junior, sex can be oral too.

By: Deb

Deb — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 19:16:42 +0000

@TFBuckFutter …
I once went to a party and had too much to drink and a guy I didn’t know and HAD NOT been flirting with dragged me into a dark room got me on the floor and was all over me. I didn’t resist because I was drunk. My friend came looking for me, whacked him in the head, and dragged me out. Guess who I blamed? ME. And I didn’t run around telling everyone the guy tried to rape me either. I CHOSE to drink too much. I LET a jerk drag me into a room without offering any resistance because I was too intoxicated to offer any. I was an adult, responsible for my body and chose to abdicate that responsibility to alcohol. Fortunately, my friend saved my butt. But that near miss was MY FAULT. Yeah, the guy was a sleaze. So’s Roethlisberger. That doesn’t absolve ME of responsibility for MY behavior. And there’s no way I could confuse THAT with rape.

By: QBall

QBall — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 19:01:36 +0000

@TFBuckFutter wrote:
“BECAUSE SHE WAS DRUNK! That is WHY banging drunk women is, technically, rape. BECAUSE THEY CAN’T CONSENT TO AN ACT THEY CAN’T REMEMBER. It’s the SAME reason contracts are voidable if one party is inebriated. No matter what she did BEFORE HAND it doesn’t matter IF CONSENT IS ABSENT.”
====================
You are arguing that drunken sex is, by definition, “rape.” This isn’t true. This confuses “consent” in law with “capacity.” Consent is merely an act of volition (will); it doesn’t require an intelligent choice. Having a drunken escapade that you later regret doesn’t mean that you “didn’t consent.” If drunken sex was outlawed, both parties to the escapade could claim to be “raped,” because any of the touchings that either person performed could be said to be “not consented to” (because of alcohol). So the issue is not that drunk people are forbidden from having sex; the issue is whether one of the drunken parties is being forced to have it, against his or her wishes AT THAT TIME. (http://ludwig.squarespace.com/politics-journal/2010/4/15/the-media-lynching-of-ben-roethlisberger.html)

By: TFBuckFutter

TFBuckFutter — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 18:52:40 +0000

I once saw a girl passed out drunk with “Slut” written on her forehead, and “Insert penis here” written on her thigh.
That means if I banged her, it wouldn’t have been rape, right?
And even if I didn’t bang her, I could grope her, rub on her, do everything short of penetrating her, and it’d still be legal, right?