XPost: md.jobs, md.personals, alt.abortion   
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   From: smh@nfl.com   
      
   MAYS LANDING, N.J. (AP) — A judge on Thursday dismissed domestic   
   violence charges against Ray Rice, who was captured by a   
   surveillance camera knocking his then-fiancee unconscious in a   
   hotel elevator last year.   
      
   Judge Michael Donio signed the order after the Atlantic County   
   prosecutor told him the former Baltimore Ravens running back had   
   completed the terms of his pretrial intervention.   
      
   Under terms of the program, Rice paid $125 in fines and received   
   anger management counseling.   
      
   Rice was charged with third-degree aggravated assault. His   
   attorney described what happened in February 2014 at Atlantic   
   City’s Revel Casino Hotel as “little more than a   
   misunderstanding.”   
      
   However, Rice’s promising career with the NFL turned after TMZ   
   released videos that showed him dragging his fiancee, Janay   
   Palmer, out of the elevator after he struck her.   
      
   NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell initially suspended Rice for two   
   games, then suspended him indefinitely after a second video   
   revealed the knockout punch.   
      
   Rice appealed, and an arbitrator reinstated him. However, Rice   
   has yet to sign with a team.   
      
   Rice’s admission into the state’s pretrial interview program   
   drew criticism.   
      
   Only 70 of the more than 15,000 domestic violence assault cases   
   adjudicated from 2010 to 2013 in New Jersey’s Superior Court   
   were admitted into the pretrial intervention program, according   
   to records obtained by The Associated Press.   
      
   New Jersey guidelines advise that those who commit violent   
   crimes should “generally be rejected” from the program, but   
   Atlantic County Prosecutor Jim McClain, who handled the case,   
   says he signed off on it after reviewing the circumstances and   
   consulting with Palmer, who married Ray Rice after a grand jury   
   indicted him.   
      
   The intervention program is seen as a key tool as the state   
   tries to keep low-level suspects out of jail.   
      
   Defendants can have charges dismissed if they meet all the   
   program’s conditions, which can include random urine testing,   
   community service and restitution. PTI supervision averages from   
   one to three years, according to the state.   
      
   Of the 15,029 people charged with assault in domestic violence   
   cases from 2010 to 2013, 8,203 had their cases dismissed or   
   downgraded to a lower court, according to the data provided by   
   the state judiciary. Nearly 3,100 pleaded guilty, 13 were found   
   guilty at trial and nine were found not guilty.   
      
   http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2015/05/21/judge-   
   dismissed-domestic-violence-charges-against-ray-rice/27709875/   
      
          
      
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