RAP IS HURLED
Familia ducks wife-bash, may still take MLB heat
METS HURLER Jeurys Familia closed one legal matter Thursday after a New Jersey prosecutor dismissed the domestic assault case against the All-Star pitcher in Fort Lee Municipal Court.
Prosecutor Arthur Balsamo recommended the case be dismissed after Familia’s wife, Bianca Rivas, told him her husband had not hurt her.
Balsamo said Rivas told him scratches on her chest from the night Familia was arrested came from their 1-year-old child, and a mark on her cheek came from her leaning on it.
Neither Familia nor Rivas, who arrived at the courthouse together and left together, commented to reporters after the brief hearing before Judge John DeSheplo.
Had he been convicted at trial, the Mets closer faced up to six months behind bars.
Despite the criminal case being dismissed, Familia’s problems are far from over — he still faces possible discipline from Major League Baseball.
Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred has the authority to suspend players deemed to have violated MLB’s domestic violence policy, even if the player is never charged or convicted in any criminal matter.
Pittsburgh sports attorney Jay Reisinger, who is representing Familia for the baseball side of his case, was present at Thursday’s hearing.
Reisinger represented Yankees relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman in his domestic violence case. Chapman served a 30-game suspension to start the 2016 season, when the Cuban lefty was playing for the Yankees.
Familia’s teammate Jose Reyes served a 52-game suspension also earlier this year for an incident in Hawaii where he allegedly grabbed his wife by the throat and shoved her.
Neither Chapman nor Reyes were convicted of any criminal wrongdoing. Familia, 27, was arrested early Oct. 31 at his Fort Lee home after Rivas called 911 and told a dispatcher that Familia “is going crazy” and was “drunk.”
According to a complaint, Rivas (whose name was redacted in the document) had “visible injuries” which included “a scratch to the chest and bruise to the right cheek.”
Familia was dropped from a New York City ad campaign against domestic violence after the arrest.