Update: Rapper Rick Ross cleared of Felony Battery cost, nonetheless dealing with two misdemeanors

Prosecutors in Florida have dropped a felony cost in opposition to rapper Rick Ross in his home violence case.

According to new court docket paperwork obtained by TMZ.com, prosecutors have filed two misdemeanor expenses in opposition to the 50-year-old, one for battery and the opposite for battery/home violence.

However, they dropped a cost of felony battery due to inadequate proof.

The rapper, actual identify William Leonard Roberts II, was first arrested on 1 October on felony battery by strangulation and misdemeanor battery earlier than the dropping of the felony cost. He has pleaded not responsible to the remaining expenses.

According to an arrest report, Ross was accused of beating, strangling, and slamming his girlfriend at his Miami residence after he questioned her about whether or not she had lied to him.

Ross’ legal professionals Steve Sadow and Bradley Horenste have mentioned he’s being “wrongfully accused” by an ex-girlfriend.

“Mr. Roberts is innocent and has pled not guilty to the charges,” they mentioned. “He respectfully requests that his friends, fans, and the general public not prejudge the situation and allow the judicial process to run its course.”

The arrest report particulars that the sufferer mentioned on the morning of Aug. 28 she was woken up by Ross, who was “enraged” as a result of she was “tagged in a photo on Instagram.”

The sufferer mentioned Ross “questioned her about lying to him and then proceeded to slap the victim in the face,” later accusing her of being in a relationship with an individual “she was merely friends with.”

The report goes on to say that each time his girlfriend denied the accusations, Ross struck her, together with within the chest a number of occasions. He “also choked the victim to the point she could not breathe by grabbing the collar of the hoodie she was wearing and twisting it,” police mentioned.

At one level, Ross is accused of grabbing the sufferer by her ponytail and slamming her in opposition to the wall, earlier than hanging her within the face as she was bent over, “causing a busted lip.” He then pushed her to the ground, and turned on the bathe to attempt to spray her with the bathe head, the report states.

The sufferer was in a position to get out of the toilet and go away the house earlier than she went again inside, police mentioned. After Ross left, she “gathered her belongings and left the residence.”

Police mentioned the sufferer “provided photographic evidence of her injuries with time stamps coinciding with the event.”

She additionally instructed police that she had contacted a good friend to picked her up at Ross’ residence, however that good friend was “turned away.” Detectiveshave been additionally made conscious of attainable video footage associated to the incident, and Ross posted an image on his Instagram of the good friend arriving on the scene.

“Not only were our investigators able to obtain a victim statement, but they also collected photographs of the injuries, surveillance video of the alleged incident, and they were able to establish probable cause for this arrest,” Miami Beach Police spokesman Christopher Bess mentioned on the time. “It paints a picture of a very violent attack.”

Ross turned himself in to Miami Beach police on Oct. 1, authorities mentioned. He was arrested and charged accordingly.

Police mentioned he declined to supply a press release on the recommendation of his authorized counsel.

“Our detectives, our police department, takes any allegations of domestic violence very seriously, which is why we acted swiftly,” Bess mentioned. “No matter the celebrity, no matter the status of the alleged offender, we will investigate allegations of this sort.”