re: Charges dropped against Reuben Foster

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Criminal proceedings in a domestic violence case against San Francisco 49ers linebacker Reuben Foster will not proceed to trial, a judge ruled on Wednesday, when two felony charges against the former Alabama All-American were dismissed.

In Santa Clara County Superior Court, Judge Nona Klippen ruled the county's District Attorney's Office had failed to prove that probable cause existed to try Foster on the charges of felony domestic violence and forcefully attempting to prevent a victim from reporting a crime.

Foster also faced a felony charge for possession of an assault weapon. That charge was downgraded to a misdemeanor on Wednesday.

The judge's ruling in San Jose, California, ended an episode that started on Feb. 11 and had sidelined Foster during the 49ers' offseason program.

San Francisco general manager John Lynch said Foster would rejoin the team on Thursday now that the domestic violence charge had been dropped.

Foster was arrested after the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department responded to a 911 call from a Los Gatos, California, home on Feb. 11. Elissa Ennis told police that Foster had thrown her out of their home three times that day, dragged her by the hair down stairs, hit her eight to 10 times in the head and thrown her dog across a room.

But last week at a preliminary hearing, Ennis, described as Foster's live-in girlfriend at the time of the alleged incident, testified she lied about the linebacker because he told her their relationship had come to an end and what followed was a "money scheme" that got out of her control.

Ennis told the court that she wanted to "kill" Foster when he told her they were through on the morning of Feb. 11. But short of that, she sought to ruin his football career and turn a profit on the breakup. Ennis said she took $8,000 in cash and two Rolex watches -- all Foster's -- with her when she flew home to Louisiana after Foster's arrest.

Ennis also said she had gone to jail for falsely accusing a man of domestic violence. Cam Inman of the Bay Area News Group reported Ennis had been arrested on Nov. 4, 2011, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Her case was dismissed on Sept. 18, 2013.

Klippen said there was "a total absence of evidence" to support Ennis' initial claims against Foster. But the NFL still issued a statement that said the league would "continue to monitor all developments in the matter, which remains under review."

The weapons charge against Foster stems from a loaded Sig Sauer 516 short-barreled rifle found in the bathroom floor when police responded to the 911 call. At last week's preliminary hearing, a police detective testified the gun had been purchased legally in Alabama.

The judge set the pretrial hearing on the weapons charge for June 6.

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