Tracey Kaplan of the San Jose Mercury News reports that Santa Clara County prosecutors are leaning against charging 49ers DL Ray McDonald for his role in a domestic violence situation that involved his pregnant fiancee.
Kaplan’s sources mentioned that the District Attorney’s Office is expected to announce their decision at some point in the near future, along with a report that outlines their reasons for not charging McDonald.
It’s worth mentioning that the District Attorney’s Office denied rumors that a report would be issued on Friday. However, legal experts have pointed to the prosecutors decision to cancel arraignment hearings for McDonald on multiple occasions as being a good sign for his case.
The 49ers have stood by McDonald throughout this process, saying publicly that they plan to allow the process to play out before considering any punishment. Although, Ian Rapoport previously reported that if it’s proven McDonald lied to them, San Francisco would release him from their roster.
McDonald’s fiancee reportedly grabbed a gun during an argument between the couple had and wound up leaving the house after McDonald threatened to call the police. No arrests were made at the time and McDonald was never charged in the case.
McDonald, 30, reworked his contract this past week to free up some extra cap space. He was entering the fourth year of his five-year, $20 million contract that included $7 million guaranteed before it was restructured and was set to make $3.5 million for the 2014 season.
This season, McDonald has recorded 18 tackles over the course of seven games. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 14 defensive end in a 3-4 system out of 49 qualifying players.
We’ll have more updates as the news is available.
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