Key Takeaways
- Rick Ross waived his right to attend pretrial conferences in his Florida domestic violence case, allowing his attorneys to appear for him.
- Prosecutors accuse Ross of repeatedly striking and choking a woman after an Instagram tag allegedly enraged him; Ross and his legal team deny the allegations.
- A stay-away order requires Ross to avoid the alleged victim while the charges, including battery by strangulation, remain unresolved.
Rick Ross has waived his right to personally attend pre-trial conferences as his domestic violence case moves forward in Florida.
According to a court document filed on Thursday (October 1), Ross, whose legal name is William Roberts II, submitted a written waiver of his appearance at "any pretrial conferences." The filing allows his legal team to appear on his behalf during those proceedings.
The filing comes after Ross was arrested on charges that include battery by strangulation stemming from an alleged domestic violence incident involving a woman identified in an arrest affidavit only as "JK."
The alleged victim reported the incident to Miami Beach Police on September 29, approximately a month after it allegedly occurred. According to the arrest affidavit previously viewed by Complex, Ross allegedly became "enraged" after the woman was tagged in a photo on Instagram.
Ross is accused of waking the woman before repeatedly striking her, choking her until "she could not breathe," slamming her against a wall, and injuring her lip.
Ross and his legal team have denied the allegations. An attorney for the rapper previously called the accusations "false" and maintained that Ross is innocent. Ross has also publicly denied the accusations against him.
The arrest came after Jazzma Kendrick publicly accused Ross of abuse in September. "I don't know a lot of things, but I do know that a man that puts his hands on me, is a man that never loved me and never will," Kendrick wrote on Instagram.
A stay-away order has since been issued in Ross' case, requiring him to remain away from the alleged victim while the case proceeds. The newly filed waiver does not resolve the charges against Ross.
