Let me first say that although we should wait for more facts before reaching any conclusions about what may or may not have happened last week in Georgia, I am tremendously disappointed with Ben Roethlisbeger's conduct. It is extremely immature for a 28 year old man to spend the night drinking with, and hitting on, 20 and 21 year old coeds. Taken together with other reports of Big Ben's conduct, there appears to be mounting eveidence that at the very least he may have a problem with appropriate interaction with women of his own age and perhaps alcohol. However, there was something about this whole story that bothered me and I couldn't put my finger on it until I read the new article in the Post -Gazette this evening (I apologize for not being tech savvy enough to provide a link) in which the attorneys for Ben's accuser urge the media not to disclose her identity and respect her privacy while the investigation continues.
What I realized was that it is somewhat unusual for a victim of a crime to go out and hire their own attorney. I mean, it's not like the alleged victim will end up in jail if the prosecuters decide not to file charges. On the other hand, the person being accused of a crime would be an absolute fool not to retain counsel as soon as possible, because their personal liberty is at stake. And then I realized that not only has the woman in this case hired an attorney, she apparently did so within 48 hours of the alleged incident. So I googled the law firm she retained, Parks Chesin & Walbert, and was not surprised to learn that it is a well respected Atlanta plaintiffs firm which specializes in personal injury. There is only one possible reason for the accuser to have retained this law firm (most likely on a contingency fee basis), and that is because she is looking for a payday. So, viewed in the light most favorable to the accuser, at the time she made her police report she wasn't thinking about recovering any money, but she somehow managed to almost immediately overcome her trauma and retain this law firm to get her some money. There are, of course, significantly less favorable ways to view her miraculous recovery.
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Originally Posted by Chadman
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