Tuesday evening, reports came out that the Santa Clara District Attorney's Office was considering filing assault charges against 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks. The police report indicated Brooks had hit teammate Lamar Divens with a beer bottle. The San Francisco 49ers have released a statement as we continue to await word from the DA's office on potential charges:
We are aware of the situation involving Ahmad Brooks. Out of respect for the legal process, the club will have no further comment at this time.
Matt Barrows is reporting the DA's office indicated they were close to a decision on what to do with the Ahmad Brooks case. An arrest warrant application was submitted and signed, but the DA's office is now saying that was an "internal error". My personal guess is that "internal error" was someone going ahead with the charges without asking someone higher up the food chain.
The application was for felony assault, which carries a sentence ranging from a fine up to four years in prison. There are reports some in the DA's office view this as a wobbler, which means they could decide to simply charge Brooks with a misdemeanor. And they could also decide to not charge him at all. Divens has indicated he does not want to press charges. The DA's office has to make that call, but if the alleged victim does not want to be involved, it would not be surprising if nothing came of it.