An appeals court commissioner in Washington state has denied Hope Solo’s request to review a previous decision that reinstated the two fourth-degree domestic violence charges against her, meaning the case can move forward. Solo, the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. women’s soccer team, can still petition the Washington state Supreme Court for yet another review of the decision to reinstate the charges, and has 30 days to do so.
In June 2014, Solo was charged in Kirkland, Wash., with two counts of domestic violence, one against half-sister Teresa Obert and one against Obert’s son, who was 17 at the time. But as the case was nearing trial in January 2015, a Kirkland Municipal Court judge dismissed the charges on procedural grounds after witnesses for the prosecution refused multiple times to be interviewed or deposed by Solo’s defense team. However, in a rare move, Kirkland prosecutors petitioned a state appeals court to reinstate the charges against Solo, and in October the court ruled in their favor.
In asking the appeals court commissioner to review the reinstatement, Solo’s legal team alleged “government misconduct in how the case was handled,” according to KOMO News in Seattle. The commissioner declined to re-examine the appeals court’s ruling.
It’s unclear exactly when Solo’s case will move forward again, and a trial — if there is one — is a long ways off. Solo currently is splitting her time between the Seattle Reign of the National Women’s Soccer League and the U.S. national team as the latter prepares for this summer’s Rio Olympics, where she will be aiming for her third gold medal.
The details of the 2014 incident depend on whom you’re asking. Here’s what Solo had to say on “Good Morning America” in February 2015:
“I’m not going to go into all of the details, but it was a scary night. I was a victim of domestic violence at the hands of my 17-year-old nephew, who is 6-foot-9, 280 pounds. I was struck over the head, and concussed pretty severely. It was a very scary night.”
But police records, depositions and an ESPN interview with Obert paint a different version, one in which an intoxicated Solo attacked her nephew by punching him and repeatedly smashing his head into the cement floor of Obert’s garage. Solo’s belligerent behavior then allegedly continued after she was taken to the Kirkland jail for booking on domestic violence charges, as The Post’s Cindy Boren wrote in June 2015:
The jail report obtained by [ESPN reporter Mark] Fairaru-Wada (read it here) reports that Solo was belligerent and intoxicated after her arrest on two counts of domestic violence early in the morning of June 21. The report says she fought with police as they attempted to book her into jail and yelled at one, “You’re such a b—-. You’re scared of me because you know that if the handcuffs were off, I’d kick your [expletive].” She insinuated that two jailers were having sex and called an officer a “14-year-old boy.” According to Fainaru-Wada, “When asked to remove a necklace, an apparently drunk Solo told the officer that the piece of jewelry was worth more than he made in a year.”
Solo has 196 caps for the national team — the team record for a goalkeeper — and has twice won the World Cup’s Golden Glove award, given to the tournament’s best goalkeeper.