Georgia rescinds request for DNA from Roethlisberger
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ORLANDO, Fla. -- An attorney for Ben Roethlisberger said authorities in Georgia have withdrawn their request for a sample of his DNA because they told him they no longer needed it.
Earlier this month, police announced at a news conference that they would seek a DNA sample as part of their investigation into a 20-year-old woman's claims that the Steelers quarterback sexually assaulted her in the early morning hours of March 5 at a night club in Milledgeville, Ga.
But Mr. Roethlisberger's attorney, Edward T.M. Garland, said Tuesday an agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigations called him last week to tell him that they would no longer need the sample. Mr. Garland said he was told investigators had nothing to compare it to.
"After analyzing all the information ... they advised me they had no need for us to go forward and furnish his DNA," he said.
Mr. Garland said that Mr. Roethlisberger had returned to Georgia -- though he would not say when -- to make himself available if a sample needed to be collected.
"Ben had been requested to supply his DNA, had offered to supply it, and had agreed to supply it," Mr. Garland said, adding that he had never objected to providing a sample.
Officials of the Georgia Bureau of Investigations could not be reached for comment.
Forensic expert Dr. Cyril Wecht said the fact that police have declined to take a DNA sample from Mr. Roethlisberger means that it's likely there is no forensic evidence to back up the woman's claims.
"When you don't have any biological evidence, you have to decide whether you want to proceed with what the purported victim has stated," he said.
The woman who made the accusation, a student at Georgia College & State University, was examined at Oconee Regional Medical Center just hours after she told Milledgeville police that Mr. Roethlisberger sexually assaulted her.
First Published March 24, 2010 12:00 am
