The Associated Press reported that the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department spokesman said no officers were investigating the death, and that, "It was a contest and people are saying there was no coercion." However, Deborah Hoffman of KXTV reported that former prosecutor Bill Portanova commented that "the radio station has some serious liability exposure", due in part to widespread news coverage of the Matthew Carrington case two years earlier. On January 17, 2007, "The Los Angeles Times" reported that Sacramento Sheriff John McGinness ordered homicide detectives to investigate whether a crime had been committed. On April 2, the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office declined to press criminal charges, citing a "lack of evidence of criminal misconduct."