A New Jersey superior court judge will dismiss the domestic-violence charges against Ray Rice after the former Baltimore Ravens running back completed a pre-trial intervention program.
News of the dismissal was first reported by ABCNews.com on Thursday.
Rice did not play during the 2014 season after the release of a surveillance video showed him punching then-fiancée Janay Rice in an elevator at an Atlantic City casino in February 2014.
The 28-year old applied for New Jersey’s pre-trial intervention program – also known as PTI – at a court appearance last May, where he pleaded not guilty to assault charges.
“I was just presented with a dismissal order from Prosecutor [James] McClain – which means that Ray Rice has successfully completed all of his terms and conditions of his PTI – therefore based on the prosecutors recommendation I will be signing Mr Rice’s dismissal of his case today,” judge Michael Donio told ABCNews.com in an email.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell first suspended Rice for two games after video emerged of Rice dragging his fiancee’s body out of the elevator. That was extended to an indefinite ban after a second video obtained and published by TMZ emerged of Rice knocking his then-fiancee unconscious.
While Rice was reinstated to the NFL when an former US federal judge Barbara Jones ruled Goodell’s indefinite suspension as “arbitrary”, he has yet to sign with a team.
The Associated Press reported in September that the offender-rehabilitation program Rice entered is rarely used in domestic assault cases. The PTI program allows suspects to avoid incarceration and avoid a conviction, though an arrest will remain on his record.
