Citing the completion of a pretrial intervention program, a New Jersey judge has dismissed a felony assault charge that was filed against former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice over a now-infamous incident in which Rice struck his then-fiancee in a casino elevator.
Rice hit Palmer during an argument while they were visiting Atlantic City, N.J., in February of 2014. A month later, he was indicted on a charge of third-degree aggravated assault. He then entered into a one-year pretrial program that would allow him to avoid a trial.
When video of Rice knocking out Palmer and dragging her out of the elevator surfaced last September, the Baltimore Ravens cut Rice from the team and the NFL suspended the running back indefinitely. The NFL's suspension was overturned on appeal in November.
The Baltimore Sun says it spoke to Rice about his case earlier this year:
" 'I'm actually done in my case,' Rice said. 'Really, I just have to call the state of New Jersey once a month. After May 19, I'm done. It will be a full year. It will be like a refreshing start. That's the only little burden that I have. I have until May 19. I don't have anything to do but call and confirm some things with them that I'm not getting into any trouble. It's a real basic phone call and they give me another date for the next month.' "
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