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New Jersey judge dismisses Ray Rice's domestic violence charges

(AP Photo/Jason DeCrow, File)
(AP Photo/Jason DeCrow, File)

A New Jersey judge dismissed the domestic violence charges against former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice on Thursday.

The charges stemmed from a February 2014 incident in which Rice struck his now-wife Janay in an elevator at an Atlantic City casino. The NFL originally suspended Rice for two games, but the suspension became indefinite and the Ravens cut him after the graphic video of the altercation surfaced in September.

Rice, who was charged with third-degree aggravated assault, avoided jail time after being accepted into a pretrial intervention program (including anger management) for first-time offenders. Rice completed the program this week, and Judge Michael A. Donio dismissed the charge Thursday, according to NBC News.

The NFL’s indefinite suspension of Rice was eventually lifted following an appeal that was heard by federal judge Barbara S. Jones, who criticized the NFL’s handling of the situation.

Rice, who remains a free agent, told the Baltimore Sun in February that the completion of the program would give him “a refreshing start.”

“I’m actually done in my case,” Rice said. “Really, I just have to call the state of New Jersey once a month. After May 19, I’m done. It will be a full year. It will be like a refreshing start.”

Rice called the situation a “nightmare” and told the Sun that he is trying to move forward.

“It’s an unfortunate situation for me and my wife. It’s unfortunate. There’s people that go through domestic violence on all different levels. We truly know we had one bad night, but I always preach that one bad decision and your dream can turn into a nightmare,” Rice said. “We truly lived it, but now the way to come clean with it is to own it and try to help now. There’s no reason that no one should have to go through what me and my wife been through, no one. I take full responsibility for my actions.”

Rice is hopeful another NFL team will give him a second chance.

“I’m optimistic that I’ll get a second chance,” Rice said. “I don’t think this boils down to whether I can play football or not. Obviously I know that. I just think there’s so much more that comes with it. I know the PR side of it will be tough. I understand that. I just know that if a team that really truly genuinely looks at me and understood that this guy made a horrible mistake then they can structure a plan for me. I don’t like to be singled out, I like to be part of the team, if they can understand that I’ll do anything to help the situation and go out and give them the best football I got, I think I’ll get a second chance.”

Rice rushed for 6,180 yards and 37 touchdowns and caught 369 passes for 3,034 yards and six touchdowns in six seasons for the Ravens.

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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!