Jermall Charlo No Longer Facing Assault Charge After State of Texas Files Motion To Dismiss –

Jermall Charlo is free to resume his career.

BoxingScene.com has confirmed that the WBC middleweight titlist will no longer face felony assault charges stemming from a family incident last summer. The State of Texas filed a Motion to Dismiss during a hearing Monday afternoon in the 268th District Court of Fort Bend County, Texas. The motion comes one day after a scheduled discovery hearing which has now been canceled.

According to court records obtained by BoxingScene.com, the state no longer wishes to proceed based on the reason of no longer to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt. Charlo (32-0, 22KOs) previously faced one count of Assault Causing Bodily Injury of a Family Member, stemming from an incident last September 5 alleging that he struck his 21-year-old nephew during a Labor Day gathering at a Fort Bend County home.

Charlo has long contended his innocence in the case, which was supported by witnesses who came forward on behalf of the boxer. The statements and newfound evidence provided to the state did not support the charges files to the point where the state believed a jury would find Charlo guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The development puts to end a year-long ordeal within his family, a matter which officially became police business in January. Charlo was arrested and booked on February 11 before being released on February 14 on the condition of home monitoring at the time of release. The condition was modified by the court upon learning that Charlo was in training for a scheduled fight, as he was due at the time to defend his title against Poland’s Maciej Sulecki on June 18 in his hometown of Houston, Texas.

The alleged incident in question would have normally carried a misdemeanor charge for a first-time offender. However, Charlo was charged as a repeat offender due to a prior conviction from a 2015 incident in Clark County, Nevada. According to a copy of the affidavit obtained by BoxingScene.com, “It is further presented in and to said Court that, prior to the commission of the aforesaid offense, the defendant was convicted (in Clark County, Nevada) of an assault involving family violence.”

“[I]t is further presented in and to said Court that, prior to the commission of the aforesaid offense,”

Because the alleged incident in question took place during the pandemic, Charlo was subject to enhanced punishment. The arrest affidavit noted that the alleged incident “was committed in an area that was, at the time of the offense, “(1) subject to a declaration of a state of disaster made by… the president of the United States under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act; or the governor; or the presiding office of the governing body of a political subdivision… or subject to an emergency evacuation order.

The declaration meant that the state had room to charge Charlo with second-degree felony assault, which would have carried a maximum charge of 4-20 years in prison—essentially double the sentence that would have come with a conviction on the third-degree felony assault charge.

It becomes moot, as Charlo will no longer face a jury trial. The development marks the second time in over a year that charges were filed against the 32-year-old boxer, with both cases ultimately dismissed.  His arrest in February came less than two weeks after Charlo was fully exonerated on previous robbery charges from an incident last July in San Antonio. A misunderstanding over the boxer’s debit card being initially declined for services rendered led to a dispute which he believed to have been resolved, only to have been issued an arrest warrant three weeks later. Charlo was initially charged with three counts of second-degree felony robbery, though all charges were dropped investigators secured video evidence to back the boxer’s denial of any wrongdoing in the matter.  

The alleged incident from last September is not fully resolved as it relates to the Charlo family. Undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo (35-1-1, 19KOs)—Jermall’s twin brother, still faces one count of Terroristic Threat of Family or Household Member, a Class A misdemeanor, for which he was arrested and charged on March 10. The next court date is scheduled for September 27, though it is possible that Jermell could see his case dismissed as well by that point.

Jermall Charlo is back in training camp after having previously suffered a back injury which postponed his title defense against Sulecki. A new fight date was not yet scheduled as this goes to publish.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox

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