Though attorney Ed Garland has not yet agreed to provide a DNA sample from his client, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, to authorities investigating sexual assault charges, Garland is willing to share broad, general proclamations that his client didn’t do it.
There’s a shock.
Kelly Naqi of ESPN reports that Garland says the defense-initiated investigation has generated “significant information that points to Roethlisberger’s innocence.” But since Garland provides no details, it’s impossible to know whether it’s true -- or whether he’s merely trying to counter some of the damage that has been done to Ben’s image via the “once is an accident, twice is a trend” mindset possessed by many of the jurors of the court of public opinion.
Garland’s comments might also be intended to distract the rest of us from the apparent failure to cooperate with the investigation, even though Roethlisberger’s agent initially vowed that the cooperation would be complete. (Thanks to our buddy Brooks for helping us make that fairly obvious connection, which we had not otherwise made. Because sometimes we can be a little slow.)
So which is it? Will Ben’s team “continue to cooperate with everyone involved”? Or will Garland simply proclaim innocence while taking no tangible steps to prove it?
For now, it looks like it’ll be the latter.