Roethlisberger's attorney: E-mails prove accuser lying about rape

A lawyer for Ben Roethlisberger released dozens of e-mails Tuesday from the Douglas County woman who accused the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback of rape which he says prove the woman is lying, and demanded she drop a civil lawsuit.

David Cornwell said the e-mails from 30-year-old Andrea McNulty of Gardnerville to a fictitious online boyfriend after the alleged attack in July 2008 "directly refute the scurrilous allegations made in her complaint."

He demanded that McNulty "abandon her lawsuit and admit Roethlisberger did not rape her."

McNulty claimed the attack took place during the July 2008 American Century Championship golf tournament at Edgewood Golf Course. She was employed at Harrah's Tahoe as a VIP casino host where Roethlisberger, 27, was a guest.

McNulty said in her lawsuit, filed a month ago in Washoe County, she never made a criminal complaint against Roethlisberger because casino officials pressured her into keeping quiet.

The two-time Super Bowl winner denied the allegations.

Cornwell is an Atlanta-based lawyer who represents sports figures.

He released e-mails Tuesday reportedly from McNulty written two days after she claimed she was sexually assaulted. She wrote she was looking forward to having dinner with Roethlisberger and other celebrities attending the 2008 championship.

Five months after she claimed Roethlisberger raped her, McNulty told the fictitious boyfriend, "I would date Ben Roethlisberger" if her online boyfriend ended his relationship with her.

"We believe that Ms. McNulty's own words directly refute the scurrilous allegations made in her complaint. The attached documents, containing what we believe are Ms. McNulty's own words, are merely the tip of the investigative iceberg," Cornwell said.

Rather than crying in her truck in the parking lot, and driving away after the alleged assault, he said McNulty sent "light-hearted e-mails and engaged in benign chatter" with her online boyfriend less than two hours after the alleged assault.

Cornwell said McNulty claimed in her civil lawsuit that she suffered great mental anguish and damage and was hospitalized because of the alleged rape.

"McNulty admits that the cause of her taking three months off plus an additional six months (in which she is hospitalized) was due to her online boyfriend ... breaking her heart.

"McNulty's own words are completely inconsistent with her allegations that Mr. Roethlisberger raped her and caused her hospitalization," Cornwell said.

Roethlisberger's attorneys are seeking to have the lawsuit moved from Reno to Douglas County.