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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Dallas Cowboys running back Joseph Randle will not face misdemeanor charges following a domestic disturbance in Kansas, prosecutors said Friday.
The Wichita city attorney's office announced its decision in a brief news release after completing its review of the Feb. 3 incident involving Randle and the mother of his child at a hotel in Wichita.
Earlier this week, Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said there was not sufficient evidence to bring felony charges, but left open at the time the possibility of misdemeanor charges from the city prosecutor's office. Bennett said Friday at a news conference that he ultimately concluded there was insufficient evidence because there was nothing to corroborate the presence of a weapon.
"It simply did not exist in this case," Bennett said, adding no weapon was ever found.
Under Kansas law, the presence of a deadly weapon is key for aggravated assault charges to rise from a misdemeanor to a felony, he said.
"Cooperation was not an issue here," Bennett said. "Corroboration was the ... deficit in this case."
Randle's attorney, Gary Ayers, declined comment on the latest development. He has long contended the allegations against his client "have no merit."
The NFL had no comment Friday.
Randle could still face punishment from the league under terms of a personal conduct policy that was revised in December after the league was widely criticized for its handling of Ray Rice's domestic violence case.
Randle's former girlfriend, Dalia Jacobs, had gone to the Wichita hotel so he could see their baby. Jacobs told police Randle brandished a gun and broke a car window during the altercation. She claimed in a protective order filed the next day that Randle pointed a gun at a vehicle with their son and her friend inside.
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AP Sports Writer Schuyler Dixon in Dallas contributed to this report.
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