Hope Solo finally has a trial date. The soccer star is scheduled to stand trial for domestic violence on January 20th.
She will answer charges that she injured her half-sister and her nephew during an altercation at a family gathering in June at her half-sister’s Seattle home. Solo was charged with two counts of fourth-degree domestic violence assault.
Solo attended a hearing on Tuesday and her next will be on January 6th. During Tuesday’s hearing, her attorney, Todd Maybrown asked that the alleged victims of the assault be deposed in the presence of a stenographer.
Hope Solo‘s half-sister and her 17-year-old nephew had previously refused, but that request was granted.
Repost from @SydneyLeroux.. #WWC2015 here we come!! http://t.co/Ar6F6T1xVv pic.twitter.com/nqVUBk59CJ
— Hope Solo (@hopesolo) October 27, 2014
According to the alleged victims, Hope Solo arrived at the family gathering already drunk and angry. She then said that her nephew was “too fat and overweight and crazy to ever be an athlete,” the court documents say.
Things went downhill from there. The nephew then called her a name and walked away, causing her to follow him.
Attorneys for the alleged victims say that Solo attacked the teen. They say she punched him in the face and tackled him after he said that both she and her father were crazy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vvbx2PnAOJY
3 points and onto the next one! See you tomorrow Chicago! #USWNT http://t.co/m2dq9TYr6Z pic.twitter.com/Ttsj7B0aNb
— Hope Solo (@hopesolo) October 16, 2014
The nephew then brandished an old gun that supposedly did not work and pointed it at her in an attempt to scare her and to get her to stop assaulting him and his mother and to leave the house.
The gun turned out to be an old broken BB gun.
#TBT 2011 World Cup. Focused and ready to start a new World Cup journey next week! http://t.co/QlhAWjiyDO pic.twitter.com/FesyzdQPVb
— Hope Solo (@hopesolo) October 10, 2014
Maybrown will argue that Solo’s actions were in self-defense and will attempt to paint her as the victim.
With all of the domestic violence attention that the NFL has received the past few months, some are calling for Hope Solo to be suspended from the U.S. National soccer team, but the U.S. Soccer Federation has said that it will let the justice system work and then re-evaluate after the outcome.
What do you think? Is Hope Solo capable of such violence or are the alleged victims maliciously blowing the incident out of proportion?