The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that prosecutors have dropped a felony battery charge against Chael Sonnen at a court hearing on Wednesday. The criminal hearing has nothing to do with a civil lawsuit filed by alleged victims of an attack from Sonnen this past December at The Four Seasons in Las Vegas.
Sonnen now faces 10 misdemeanor charges of battery. Originally, prosecutors dismissed 5 misdemeanor battery charges as a result of an alleged attack by Sonnen on a California couple on December 18th. However, the charges were refiled on March 14th. The felony charge of battery by strangulation was dropped on Wednesday.
The couple have filed a lawsuit stemming from the alleged unprovoked attack in which they claim Sonnen appeared to be intoxicated when he confronted them. Sonnen claims to not have any recollection of the purported attack.
Sonnen has an initial court appearance on April 27th in Las Vegas.
Payout Perspective:
This appears to be good news from the former MMA fighter as a felony criminal charge carries a stiffer penalty than misdemeanors. One might surmise that the dismissal of the felony count was due to a lack of evidence which seems to be problematic in this case
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