Reuben Foster's girlfriend says 49ers linebacker didn't injure her

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Reuben Foster's girlfriend initially lied to police and the 49ers linebacker did not injure her during a February incident at his home in Los Gatos, the girlfriend's attorney said Wednesday in a statement to The Bee.

The attorney, Stephanie Rickard, said that the injuries, including a ruptured eardrum, that sent the 28-year-old woman to the hospital were suffered in a fight with another woman and there is a video of that confrontation.

“(Foster) did not strike her, injure her or threaten her,” said Rickard. She said Foster tried to end the relationship with her after learning of the fight.

“She was extremely upset and told him if he broke up with her she would ‘trash his career,’” Rickard said.

She said the girlfriend has told local prosecutors that she wanted to recant but that the district attorney's office filed charges anyway.

Those charges include domestic violence with an allegation that he inflicted great bodily injury, forcefully attempted to prevent a victim from reporting a crime and possessed an assault weapon – all felonies. The charge of preventing a victim from reporting a crime often is applied when someone removes or damages someone else's cell phone to prevent them from calling police.

According to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office, Foster's girlfriend flagged down a passing car in Los Gatos after she had been dragged by her hair by Foster, punched in the head eight to 10 times by him and was physically thrown from the house.

?The district attorney's office has suspected that the girlfriend would not cooperate and has said that the case would continue even without her help.

Legal experts said that domestic violence cases in which the victim does not testify are more difficult to win but that prosecutors can move forward if there is other good evidence.

In Foster's situation, that evidence may include the 911 call on the day of the incident, the medical report from the hospital and any photographs that police took. The district attorney's office also could call upon the motorist who helped the girlfriend as a witness.

In two previous domestic violence-related cases involving 49ers players, the charges either were reduced or dropped altogether after the alleged victim recanted or refused to cooperate with prosecutors.

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