Hope Solo's legal troubles and the 2015 World Cup

(Photo: Jordan Stead, AP)

[Editor's note: Hello ladies and gents, we're going to (hopefully) make a more concerted effort to get you content moving forward. This particular piece comes from contributor Johanna Fernandez, so please read and enjoy! -- Ben Rosales]

With the 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada closing in, the US Women’s Soccer team waited anxiously for a judge’s ruling on Hope Solo’s domestic assault charges. Hope Solo is the US Women’s Soccer team’s main goalkeeper. Hope Solo has been the US team’s goalkeeper since 2000, is a two-time gold medalist, and currently holds the national record for most career shutouts. The judge’s decision would determine Hope Solo’s eligibility to play on the national team in this year’s world cup.

Fortunately for Solo, on January 14, 2015, a judge dismissed Solo’s domestic violence assault charges of two misdemeanor courts of fourth-degree assault. Solo’s attorney, Todd Maybrown, successfully argued that he could not depose witnesses for the prosecution because they refused to be questioned despite a court order; thus, allowing the judge to dismiss all charges.

The incident arose during a Christmas party involving Solo, her half-sister, and her nephew. According to a police statement, officers responded to a 911 call by a man who reported that a woman would not stop “hitting people.” When police arrived at the Seattle home Solo appeared to be “intoxicated and upset.” The police noticed that Solo’s half-sister and nephew had visible physical injuries. Police believed that Solo was the “primary aggressor and had instigated the assault,” after interviewing several witnesses.

The judge’s decision means that Hope Solo will not be suspended from playing in June’s World Cup in Canada. Suspending Hope Solo would have meant applying the Amateur Sports Act, which requires an arbitration process for cases like Hope Solo’s. In the opinion of an ESPN commentator, it would have been possible that with a conviction, “an arbitrator would have agreed with the suspension.”

Team USA appeared to have no secure goalkeeper succession plan. Hope Solo had started 26 of the past 30 American games, and will now continue to play in the World Cup. 

Recently, Hope Solo’s husband Jeremy Stevens was stopped for a DUI in Los Angeles with Solo in the passenger seat.