Fooch’s update: The beat writers are posting some of what the judge said in dismissing the charges. I’ll drop some tweets in here.
Judge dropped domestic violence charge against #ReubenFoster by citing how accused “unusually calm” in 911 calls, no photo evidence of injuries from being punched as opposed to street fight, and accuser previously going to jail for false DV claim against another ex-boyfriend pic.twitter.com/6PTMdHQaRc
— Cam Inman (@CamInman) May 23, 2018
On the weapons charge, Judge Klippen’s reasoning was there was no violation of federal statutes, and the gun was purchased lawfully.
— Patrick Claybon (@PatrickClaybon) May 23, 2018
Judge Nona Klippen: “The credibility of Ms. Ennis (accuser) is a critical factor in this case”
— Robert Salonga (@robertsalonga) May 23, 2018
Said she found no evidence accuser was coerced or compensated, and that injuries were more consistent with purported fight with another woman than from being hit by Foster
A Santa Clara county judge has ruled that there is insufficient evidence for Reuben Foster to proceed to trial on the felony domestic violence charge and the charge of forcefully attempting to prevent a victim from reporting a crime. This news comes a week after a day-long court proceeding in which the accuser recanted her testimony and offered up physical evidence to show she received her injuries prior to her incident with Foster.
The illegal weapon charge has not been dismissed, but has been reduced to a misdemeanor charge. A loaded gun was found on the bathroom floor of Foster’s house after the accuser told police about it. Although the accuser later admitted to lying about Foster hitting her, that did not remove the weapon possession charge. There was a debate in court last week about whether or not the felony gun charge should be reduced to a misdemeanor, and the judge sided with the defense.
There is no word yet on when Foster will return to the 49ers. He has been away from the team since the charges were filed, and the team said they would have an answer fairly promptly once they had more information. The team did not practice today, but has an OTA on Thursday, and then again on May 29th and 30th. It seems a decent bet he is back for one of those practices.