Attleboro, Massachusetts– Massachusetts prosecutors said Monday they will drop A Domestic assault and battery charges Against New England Patriots defensive lineman Christian J. Barmore because they don’t think they can prove their case.
Barmore, 26, appeared in Attleboro District Court with his legal team, but did not speak in the courtroom or respond to reporters’ questions.
A criminal complaint said Barmore briefly took his girlfriend’s phone, threw her to the ground and grabbed her by her shirt last year during an argument on Aug. 8 at his home in Mansfield, outside Boston. The woman told Mansfield police she reported the incident on August 25, about three weeks after it happened. She provided officers with a photo showing bruises that she said occurred when she was thrown to the ground, according to the complaint.
However, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III told reporters that the woman who filed the complaint did not want to travel out of state to attend the case. He also noted that Barmore had not been arrested when the complaint was initially filed, which he said was important.
Barmore’s attorney, David Mayer, denied that any crime occurred.
“The evidence will demonstrate that no criminal conduct occurred,” Mayer said in an earlier statement, describing the matter as a personal dispute that he expects to be resolved.
The Patriots previously said they were aware of the situation and notified the NFL.