SAN JOSE, Calif. _ Prosecutors were forced to drop rape charges Monday against former San Francisco 49er Ray McDonald after his alleged victim refused to testify.
The woman, who had sued McDonald in civil court, had received a financial settlement of more than $100,000 prior to the trial, though it was not immediately clear Monday exactly how much or whether it was directly related to her refusal. She told Judge David A. Cena in open Santa Clara County Superior Court on Monday that the settlement did not require her to drop the charges.
Cena dismissed the case after the woman read a short statement, saying she was exhausted and stressed out by the case, and needed to get it behind her. Victims of sexual assault as well as survivors of domestic violence have the legal right under California law not to testify.
McDonald, 33, now plans to try to resume his NFL career after two seasons away.
"He has to put on 20 pounds," said his Redwood City attorney John Halley, "and see if he can get back in the NFL."
McDonald still faces a misdemeanor charge of violating a restraining order involving his ex-fiancee, but that case is likely to settle now that the felony rape charge has been dismissed.
However, the trial of 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks, who is charged with sexually assaulting the same woman at the same party, remains "pending," according to the District Attorney's Office. A spokesman declined to elaborate further. The next court date in that case is at the end of May.
The incident was allegedly caught on video, so prosecutors could legally proceed even if the woman refuses to testify in that case as well. Brooks is charged with misdemeanor sexual battery. If he is convicted, he would face up to six months in jail and have to register as a sex offender.
In a brief statement, prosecutor Chris Lamiero said the woman's decision not to testify against McDonald came as a disappointment.
"Despite my best efforts to convince the victim to testify, she refused," Lamiero said. "Regretfully, Ray McDonald will not face a jury for what he did that night. We are disappointed that he will not be held responsible."
The woman's case stemmed from an alleged incident that occurred Dec. 15, 2014 after a pool party at McDonald's home in the exclusive Silver Creek neighborhood in San Jose.
McDonald would have faced a maximum of eight years in prison if he had been convicted of rape and would also have had to register as a sex offender.
In December 2014, the 49ers released McDonald, citing a "pattern of poor decision-making." He was signed by the Chicago Bears, but that team let him go when he was arrested on domestic violence charges after a clash with his ex-fiancee in Santa Clara while she was holding their infant child.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office has said at least some portion of the alleged sexual assault of the woman at the party was caught on videotape by McDonald's security system.
McDonald had sued the woman for defamation, saying that she fabricated the allegations and was seeking to exploit a national wave of similar incidents involving NFL players.
McDonald alleged that the woman also lied to cover up that she had consensual sex "several times" with him that night and the next day.
A judge dismissed the lawsuit, saying McDonald failed to produce evidence that the woman had spoken to anyone other than law enforcement officials about her accusations. Statements to police are considered protected speech.
The woman counter-sued, laying out a completely different version of events. Contrary to media reports, she contends, she did not pass out from drinking but slipped and fell on a "negligently maintained, dangerously slippery deck" near McDonald's swimming pool and struck her head, passing out for eight minutes. She also claimed the video shows that McDonald believed her to be dead. But instead of calling 911, she alleged, he told others at the party that he did not want a dead woman to be found on his property.
In her lawsuit, the woman contended that after passing out by the pool, she regained consciousness but fell several more times as a result of both the head injury and her alcohol consumption. The suit claims that while she was unconscious from one of those falls, Brooks groped her in a "sexual manner." That incident was allegedly captured on camera by McDonald's in-home security system.
Then, before she fully regained consciousness, McDonald carried her to his bedroom and had sex with her, she alleged. The woman's suit does not mention whether the couple had sex the next day, though a police report in the case claims they did but notes she was not initially aware of what had happened while she was passed out.
