The son of prominent long-standing congressman John Conyers was arrested in Los Angeles earlier this year on suspicion of domestic violence, NBC News reports.
But prosecutors declined to charge him in connection with the incident.
According to documents obtained by the news outlet, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office concluded that there was a “lack of independent witnesses.” The office determined that it could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the victim’s injury was not accidentally sustained.
Prosecutors also concluded that the victim had no visible injuries beyond that of a small stab wound to the lower bicep. They also said she had no other independent witnesses to attest to what she described during the events that led up to the incident.
Conyers was arrested on Feb. 15 while at a Los Angeles residence. He was suspected of violence against his girlfriend after police were called by the woman. The woman is not identified in the document that led to the decision to not file charges.
In an interview with The New York Times, the 27-year-old said that during a quarrel, the woman pulled a knife on him. He also stated that “she cut herself” as they struggled.
“I apologize, and I am regretful for any part I played in escalating the altercation,” he told the newspaper.
The report obtained by NBC News reveals that Conyers gave a similar account to police. It states that he told authorities that the woman had been consuming alcohol and marijuana. He also said she attempted to throw him out of the residence, which caused them to get into a physical altercation and that she threatened him with a knife.
But according to reports, the woman told police a different story. She said that Conyers cut her and accused her of cheating after he searched her computer. The woman said that he then “body slammed her on the bed and then on the floor where he pinned her down and spit on her,” according to the report.
The woman said that she tried to call police, but Conyers took her phone and chased her into the residence’s kitchen where she grabbed a knife and told him to leave.
Conyers III was released by police on $50,000 bond the same day he was arrested.
“All criminal charges were dismissed and a restraining order was entered as a cooling-off measure,” Conyers told The Times. “The authorities did not see any need to proceed further.”
Conyers announced earlier this week that he would seek to replace his now vacant congressional seat with his son, Conyers III, who will run for his Michigan congressional seat.
