Misdemeanor charge dropped against Foster; felonies remain
SAN JOSE » Prosecutors have dropped a misdemeanor ammunition charge against San Francisco 49ers linebacker Reuben Foster, but his three felony charges for domestic violence and possessing an assault weapon remain, authorities announced Monday.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office cited for its decision to drop the ammunition charge a recent injunction issued by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in San Diego, which is pending review by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
“In light of that injunction, this office intends to ask the Santa Clara County Superior Court to dismiss the misdemeanor charge at the next court date scheduled for April 30, 2018,” the office said in a statement Monday.
The injunction, issued last June by U.S. District Judge Roger T. Benitez, involves Proposition 63, a 2016 voter-approved initiative that outlawed ammunition magazines holding more than 10 rounds, requires background checks for bullet purchases, criminalizes the failure to report lost or stolen guns, and strengthened avenues to remove guns from felons upon being convicted.
Benitez’s decision came in response to the National Rifle Association suing to block the new law.
The decision does not affect felony charges of domestic violence, forcefully attempting to dissuade a witness, and possession of an assault weapon — the latter in connection with a Sig Sauer 516 short-barreled rifle authorities seized from his home. If convicted of all charges, Foster could go to prison for nearly a decade.
The charges stem from a Feb. 11 incident where prosecutors contend Foster “dragged” his live-in girlfriend “by her hair, physically threw her out of the house, and punched her in the head 8 to 10 times,” rupturing her eardrum.
Foster was arraigned Friday in a San Jose courtroom, where Judge Nona Klippen ordered him not to contact the 28-year old girlfriend. He remains free on $75,000 bail.
The DA’s office said Friday it is prepared to prosecute Foster even if the reported victim ends up not testifying, an issue that stymied previous domestic-violence cases against players.
Foster’s attorney, Joshua Bentley, said in a statement Friday he had no intention of discussing the case with reporters, and that he and his client “are most anxious to have all of the facts come out and that will happen in the courtroom, not the media.”
Foster was arrested the morning of Feb. 11 at a home on Shannon Road in Los Gatos after the woman, who has been in a relationship with Foster for several years, flagged down a stranger’s car to get help calling 911.
Sources familiar with the investigation told this news organization that the woman and Foster were arguing and he threw her belongings onto a front walkway and balcony. She told authorities he then physically dragged her in an apparent attempt to remove her from the home. Foster was eventually arrested without incident.
The NFL has said it is monitoring the Foster case but has made no announcement of any penalties or suspensions for the second-year player. After an infamous domestic-violence incident involving former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, the NFL granted Commissioner Roger Goodell authority to give players a baseline sixgame suspension for domestic violence allegations, even without a conviction, with the discretion to decrease or lengthen the time based on the circumstances of a case.
In a statement Thursday after the charges were filed, the 49ers did not mention any intention to cut Foster. On Sunday, CEO Jed York, coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch released a joint statement announcing that Foster will not join his teammates for a voluntary nineweek offseason program that began Monday.
“Reuben Foster will not participate in team activities as he is tending to his legal matters. As previously stated, his future with the team will be determined by the information revealed during the legal process,” the statement reads.
The informal ban from offseason workouts at the facility does not preclude the 49ers from assisting Foster off the field, and that includes support from Lynch, front-office advisor Keena Turner and player engagement director Austin Moss.