Josina Anderson · @JosinaAnderson
16th Mar 2015 from TwitLonger
Lawsuit: Ray McDonald's press release to me via attorney Steve M. Defilippis: On March 16, 2015, Ray McDonald will be filing a lawsuit against the woman who falsely accused him of unlawful sexual conduct in December 2014. It is unfortunate that it has come to this, but at this point, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office has not yet announced a formal decision not to prosecute Mr. McDonald. Despite the passage of three (3) months, and in the face of video footage from Mr. McDonald’s home security system showing his accuser having clearly consensual sexual relations with him in his hot tub, the DA’s office has not acted at this time. Because there has been no formal action, in the eyes of NFL teams, the unresolved threat of charges being filed against him, even though factually unfounded, continues to present a roadblock to this remarkable athlete being able to move forward in his career. Absent an ability to clear his name, Mr. McDonald will be unable to continue his career as a football player. As such, this lawsuit is intended to vindicate him. While we firmly believe that Mr. Rosen’s office will do the right thing, and ultimately will issue a formal decision declining to prosecute, absent some immediate action, Mr. McDonald will lose the ability to play football this year, solely because of a false and maliciously based accusation against him.
This is not the first time that Mr. McDonald has had to deal with false charges. Last year, in the midst of the Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson scandal, his fiancé physically attacked him, and he had to restrain her. Despite all parties telling the police that she was the aggressor, and all of the facts being consistent with that, the police for some reason chose to arrest Mr. McDonald. This resulted in a long process before the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office ultimately announced that it was not going to prosecute Mr. McDonald in light of the clear evidence that he was not in anyway the aggressor, and was merely restraining his fiancé, who was herself being physically aggressive. Fortunately, the 49-ers stood behind him during that trying period.
Now, he is faced with a much more serious accusation, one which is entirely without any basis. Yet, the team released him without even looking into the lack of any evidence to support the charge. False accusations such as this not only harm the person who was subjected to the accusation, but they also harm women generally, causing unwarranted suspicion in cases where an individual is rightfully accused of a sexual crime. This suit will establish on which side of the line the current accusation lies, and return Mr. McDonald’s good name.