Under Oath, Reuben Foster's Ex-Girlfriend Recants Everything She Said

Reuben Foster’s ex-girlfriend said last month that she had lied when she told police that the San Francisco 49ers linebacker hit her, threw a dog across the room, and broke both her cell phones. On Thursday, 28-year-old Elissa Ennis said that again—this time under oath in a San Francisco courthouse at a preliminary hearing to determine if the case against Foster will proceed. Ennis spoke against the advice of her lawyer who, according to the , said in court that she had advised Ennis to invoke her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Bay Area News Group reporter Cam Inman was at the hearing and gave this account of Ennis’s testimony.

Ennis also said, like in her April statement, that her injuries were from a fight with another woman the night before.

Prosecutors stood by their case, telling Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Nona Klippen that she should let the case continue. According to the report in the San Francisco Chronicle, prosecutor Kevin Smith argued that Ennis’s most reliable account remained the one she had given to several people, including police officers, two of her own relatives, and a 911 operator.

Klippen said she would take a week to make her decision. Former prosecutor turned defense lawyer Steven Clark told the his thoughts on the delay: “This delay gives the (Santa Clara County) DA and defense time to collaborate and see if there’s a meeting of the minds instead of forcing this into a trial, which doesn’t sound like a good outcome for anybody.”