Strangulation case against former Nebraska football coach Mickey Joseph dismissed

The strangulation case against former Nebraska Cornhuskers football coach Mickey Joseph has been dismissed due to the victim declining to testify, per Eric Olson of the Associated Press.

“Case against Mickey Joseph is dismissed. Alleged victim declines to testify,” tweeted Olson on Wednesday.

The news comes after a hearing was set and Joseph returned to Lincoln for it, per Lori Pilger of the Lincoln Star Journal.

“Former Nebraska football coach Mickey Joseph returned to Lincoln for a court hearing set Wednesday morning in a criminal case where he’s accused of choking a woman during an argument in his south Lincoln home last November,” wrote Pilger. “Prosecutors charged Joseph, 55, with assault by strangulation or suffocation, a felony.”

According to Pilger, the case involving Joseph had previously been set for a preliminary hearing. A judge would to hear testimony before determining if probable cause exists for the case to move forward to an arraignment in district court, but that changed last month.

Lancaster County Attorney Pat Condon sought a court order to compel Joseph’s accuser, a material witness in the case, to attend the hearing, insinuating she no longer was cooperating with prosecutors, per Pilger.

“In a court filing Monday, Deputy County Attorney Erica Pruess offered an affidavit detailing attempts to contact her, which included seven trips to her home over a four-day period with no response despite, in one case, seeing someone inside,” wrote Pilger. “Prosecutors would need her to testify in order to convict Joseph of impeding her breathing.”

Evidently, the answer came on Wednesday, as the alleged victim decided not to testify on the matter.

Moreover, the original report stated that back on Nov. 30, the woman told police that Joseph “pushed me on the couch and strangled me.” She said she was able to push Joseph off before he followed her into the kitchen, “grabbed her hair from behind and pulled her backward, causing her to fall to the ground” and punched her in the head as she fell, Lincoln Police Officer Stephen Redlin wrote in the affidavit for the coach’s arrest, per Pilger.

Additionally, her injuries included visible swelling to her eye and several strands of hair clinging to her pant leg, which she alleged Joseph had pulled from her head, according to police.

One of the victims relatives was reportedly a witness to the incident, and told authorities he saw Joseph choke the woman before trying to grab her phone in an effort to flush it down the toilet, per Pilger.

“Joseph was jailed overnight before prosecutors charged him with the felony punishable by up to three years in prison,” added Pilger. “Joseph has been out of jail on bond, which included a condition that he does not have any contact with his accuser.”

Afterwards, Nebraska parted ways with Mickey Joseph amid sweeping changes to their football program, including the hiring of Matt Rhule.