A domestic abuse charge against Washington linebacker Reuben Foster has been dropped after Prosecutors concluded there was insufficient evidence to file charges against NFL star.
The case was brought by Foster’s ex-girlfriend Elissa Ennis, and stemmed from a Nov. 24 incident where she alleged he “slapped” her and broke her phone. Foster was arrested on “suspicion of misdemeanor domestic abuse battery,” and the San Francisco 49ers swiftly released him. But days later, he signed a four-year, $9 million contract with the Washington Redskins but has been on Commissioner’s Exempt List since — allowing the 24-year-old to still get paid without playing, per Yahoo.
Estella Gray, director of communications for the State Attorney’s Office, noted that after “a meticulous review of the facts of the case,” paperwork was filed to dismiss the charges Wednesday. This clears the way for Foster to resume his playing career.
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“We take allegations of domestic violence very seriously and thoroughly investigated this case,” Gray said in an email to the Associated Press.
Hours after news broke that the case had been dropped, TMZ released photos that appear to show Ennis with a large bruise on her cheek and marks on her chest.
In an interview with Good Morning America back December, Ennis said the fight happened while the two were broken up and “triggered” by her threats to spill the tea to Foster’s new girlfriend.
“He invited me to come see him in Florida and I came, and he took one of my phones and he slapped me and pushed me,” said Ennis. “I told him that I was going to tell his new girlfriend that he paid for my flight out there, so that’s what triggered it.”
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Ennis’ attorney, Adante Pointer, told ABC News, “We’re disappointed. The prosecutor’s choice is yet another slap in the face to Miss Ennis, just like the one Mr. Foster gave her in Tampa. Elissa Ennis was fully ready to participate and hold him accountable. This is not a situation where she recanted, nor that the prosecutor had new evidence that it didn’t happen.”
Ennis was reportedly previously jailed for lying on an boyfriend about abusing her. Last February, Foster was charged with felony domestic violence against Ennis in California but the charge was dropped after she admitted she lied repeatedly in a “money scheme.”