The apparent absence of criminal charges filed against Ben Roethlisberger has made many skeptical of the civil case against him.
In fact, lawyer David Cornwell quickly brought up that fact in a statement released to PFT Tuesday night.
“The timing of the lawsuit and the absence of a criminal complaint and
a criminal investigation are the most compelling evidence of the
absence of any criminal conduct,” Cornwell said.
Through calls with the police Tuesday, we have confirmed that no criminal charges available to the public have been filed by Andrea McNulty in Washoe County, Nevada. Washoe County is where she filed the civil case.
Public records also indicate that McNulty has not filed charges in Douglas County, Nevada.
Douglas County has jurisdiction where the Lake Tahoe Harrah’s Casino is located and would be the logical place to file charges. McNulty claims Roethlisberger sexually assaulted her at Harrah’s, her place of work.
To cover all bases, we also checked with the Reno Police Department. (In Washoe County.) They did not have any complaint from McNulty on file, but did warn they wouldn’t be able to say so if they case was still open.
The absence of public information regarding any criminal complaint from McNulty doesn’t guarantee such a complaint doesn’t exist. And its possible a complaint could be filed in the future.
We spoke with McNulty’s attorney, Calvin Dunlap, early Monday afternoon. He confirmed that the civil case was to be filed. He has not responded to calls since that time.