Witness says Matt Araiza wasn't present at time of alleged rape - ESPN

Prosecutors said Matt Araiza was not present when an alleged gang rape of a minor occurred at an October 2021 party, according to witness testimony included in evidence that prompted the San Diego District Attorney to not press criminal charges against the former Buffalo Bills punter.

Araiza, a former punter at San Diego State, also was not visible in any of the videos recovered from the night in question, according to audio from a meeting between San Diego deputy district attorney Trisha Amador and the woman who filed a civil lawsuit last year against Araiza and two of his former Aztecs teammates.

ESPN has obtained and reviewed over 1 hour and 41 minutes worth of audio from the Dec. 7, 2022, meeting attended by Amador, the woman, the woman's attorney, District Attorney investigator Ted Mansour and a selected victim advocate.

Amador told the woman that Araiza left the off-campus party about an hour before the time of the alleged gang rape, according to a witness.

Amador said Araiza is «alleged to have left the party at 12:30» and was not «even at the party anymore» when the alleged gang rape occurred at 1:30 a.m. PT, according to video time stamps of the encounter.

Amador also told the woman that nobody outside of her office, including the witness who testified to Araiza's departure from the party, knows about the specific time stamps of the videos recovered from the party.

«There's a witness who doesn't have a reason to say what time suspect Araiza left the party because nobody knows about the time stamps — that he would've left the party prior to [a video being filmed],» Amador told the woman, according to the audio.

The Bills released Araiza on Aug. 27, two days after a civil lawsuit was filed accusing him of having