TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Prosecutors have decided not to pursue a domestic violence charge against Washington Redskins linebacker Reuben Foster, though the NFL continues to review the matter.
Prosecutors in Tampa, Florida, filed a notice of termination of prosecution on Wednesday. The notice states that the first-degree misdemeanor battery charge is dismissed and there is no need for Foster to appear at any future court hearings.
Prosecutors concluded there was insufficient evidence to file charges against Foster after “a meticulous review of the facts of the case,” said Estella Gray, director of communications for the State Attorney’s Office.
She didn’t elaborate further.
“We take allegations of domestic violence very seriously and thoroughly investigated this case,” Gray said in an email to The Associated Press.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said Thursday the league is monitoring all developments in the situation, which continues to be under review. Foster is currently on the Commissioner Exempt list, which prevented him from playing in games or practicing.
The league could still decide to punish Foster even though he has been cleared by the court system.
Foster was arrested at the San Francisco 49ers’ hotel in Tampa in November and jailed overnight following an incident involving the second-year linebacker and a companion police identified as the same woman who said Foster hit her in February. The woman later recanted the earlier allegations.
The woman, Elissa Ennis, said on “Good Morning America” last month that Foster slapped her and pushed her at the Tampa hotel. She told “Good Morning America” she recanted about the previous situation because she loved him and that can make someone do something that’s not in their best interests.
Washington claimed Foster after the 49ers released him, saying they spoke to former University of Alabama teammates about the 24-year-old before making the decision to sign him. The Redskins declined comment when asked about the charge against Foster being dropped.
Foster has two years remaining on his rookie contract after San Francisco selected him in the first round of the 2017 draft.
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