Oct. 02--Hope Solo, the record-setting goalkeeper for the World Cup champion U.S. women's soccer team, will face domestic violence charges after a Washington state appeals court on Friday reversed a judge's decision last winter to throw out the case.
Solo is alleged to have assaulted her sister Teresa Obert and Obert's son, Solo's nephew, then 17, and during a party in June 2014. Solo claimed to be the victim in the incident but after an investigation, Kirkland, Wash., prosecutors charged her with two counts of fourth-degree assault.
In January, Kirkland Municipal Court Judge Michael Lambo dismissed the charges on procedural grounds after prosecution witnesses refused multiple requests to be interviewed. But in an unusual move prosecutors challenged that decision and an appeals court reinstated the charges without comment.
No trial date has been set for the case.
"We are shocked and disappointed by the judge's ruling," Solo's attorney Todd Maybrown said in a statement. "However, we maintain our position that the charges in this case should have never been filed, that the original trial court's dismissal of the case was correct, and we plan to file an appeal of today's decision with the court of appeals."
Both Solo and U.S. Soccer declined to comment Friday.
U.S. Soccer suspended Solo for a month last winter following an incident in which her husband, former NFL player Jerramy Stevens, was arrested on a DUI charge while behind the wheel of a team van. At the time U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati said Solo's behavior had left her place on the World Cup team in doubt.
But she was reinstated in February and went on to be chosen as the World Cup's top goalkeeper, allowing just three goals in seven games while helping the U.S. to its first world championship in 16 years.
Friday's court decision leaves her availability for next summer's Olympic Games uncertain.
Solo, 34, holds U.S. national team records for wins and shutouts.
She last played Thursday for the Seattle Reign in the National Women's Soccer League title game, allowing a goal to World Cup teammate Amy Rodriguez in a game the FC Kansas City won, 1-0.
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