No charges in Ray McDonald domestic violence investigation

The Santa Clara County district attorney’s office has declined to file charges against the San Francisco 49ers defensive lineman Ray McDonald, in a domestic violence investigation stemming from his arrest on 31 August.

Prosecutors said on Monday they were unable to charge McDonald because of conflicting versions of what happened, a lack of verifiable eyewitnesses and a lack of cooperation by the alleged victim, McDonald’s fiancee.

“All domestic violence complaints deserve our concern, sensitivity and careful review,” district attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement. “After our thorough review of all the facts, we do not have evidence sufficient to convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr McDonald committed a crime”.

The statement said no one was left with “significant injuries”.

McDonald, an eight-year NFL veteran, has played all season despite pressure on the 49ers to bench him. He has 24 tackles, 15 solo, while starting all nine games for the 5-4 team.

Following the arrest, 49ers chief executive Jed York, general manager Trent Baalke and coach Jim Harbaugh repeatedly said they had zero tolerance for domestic violence. Rather than bench McDonald, however, they agreed to let “due process” play out before making a decision about his future with the team.

Harbaugh said he wouldn’t allow any player found guilty of domestic violence to be on his team. He also said public pressure wouldn’t affect how the 49ers handled McDonald’s situation.

On Monday, Harbaugh said: “As I’ve said from the very beginning, I was never there to stand up here and say what did or didn’t happen.

“The stance on domestic violence, that principle of being completely against it and also the principle for being for due process, and the respect of the judicial system, legal process, and that these are people’s lives, let the facts and the information lead to the decisions that we would make as an organisation and that ultimately the authorities would make.

“They had a process, they had an investigative process that now seems to be concluded.”

McDonald’s arrest came days after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced stiffer penalties for players accused of domestic violence, including a six-week suspension for a first offense and at least a year for a second. That move followed scrutiny over a two-game penalty handed to the then Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, stemming from his arrest on an assault charge in February.

“The issue of domestic violence is important to us, as it is throughout society,” the 49ers said in a statement on Monday. “We have taken this allegation seriously, just as we have taken the principles of due process seriously.

“We have said from the beginning that we will consider the information available, allow the facts to lead to our decisions and respect the judicial process. Based on the information available to us and the district attorney’s decision not to file charges, there will be no change in Ray’s status with the team.”

According to the DA’s office, an investigation determined that McDonald’s fiancee, who was identified only as “Jane Doe” in the statement, struck McDonald during an argument at his home during his birthday party and he then tried to restrain her. The two scuffled and McDonald forcibly attempted to remove her from the home, the statement said.

McDonald called a San Jose police officer, saying he needed to get “a female” out of his house, the statement said. The fiancee subsequently called 911 and that led to McDonald’s arrest.

According to a memo prosecutors sent to district attorney Rosen, both McDonald and his fiancee said she struck him first. The memo says her injuries were “consistent with restraint and an ensuing scuffle, not an attack”.

McDonald and his pregnant fiancee got into a fight after a woman attending the party told her some women were getting too friendly with McDonald. McDonald’s fiancee, who was sleeping upstairs, came down and confronted him, according to the prosecutors’ memo.

She asked a woman talking to him to step outside, according to the memo, and the two got into a fight. McDonald grabbed her arms to restrain her, according to the memo, and at one point grabbed her neck as he tried to remove her from the house. Both times he left visible injuries, according to the memo.