Los Angeles prosecutors have dropped charges against Fantastic Four star Ioan Gruffudd’s estranged wife, Alice Evans.
Evans, 54, pleaded not guilty to two charges of violating an order barring her from posting disparaging comments about Gruffudd, 49, or his 29-year-old girlfriend Bianca Wallace on social media.
But at a hearing Thursday at LA’s Airport Courthouse, Commissioner James Cooper dismissed the charges after prosecutors told the court they were “unable to proceed.”
Alice Evans is seen for the first time since charges for violating a Los Angeles restraining order were dropped
Evans was pictured next to her daughter, Ella, exiting Trader Joe’s supermarket
At a hearing Friday — where Evans did not appear in person — her attorney, public defender, Daniel Stefanic, filed a motion asking for a verdict that would declare her “factually innocent”
Out of court Friday, Stefanic told DailyMail.com that while the charges against Evans have been dismissed, “she actually wants to be declared innocent of the charges.”
The 102 Dalmatians star looked glum as she loaded groceries into the family’s car
At a follow-up hearing Friday — where Evans did not appear in person — her attorney, public defender, Daniel Stefanic, filed a motion seeking a verdict that would declare her “factually innocent” of the charges.
Commissioner Cooper initially denied the motion, telling the court that “a finding of factual innocence opens the county (LA county) to civil liability.
“The province doesn’t want us to decide these kinds of issues from the seat of our pants.”
But at Stefanic’s urging, Commissioner Cooper withdrew his denial of the motion and postponed his ruling until another hearing he had scheduled for April 25.
Out of court Friday, Stefanic told DailyMail.com that while the charges against Evans have been dismissed, “she actually wants to be declared innocent of the charges.”
Alice Evans (pictured leaving court in January), 54, had pleaded not guilty to two charges of violating the retraining order issued against her by her estranged husband Ioan Gruffudd. At a hearing Thursday, the charges were dismissed after prosecutors told the court they were ‘unable to proceed’
“I can’t leave the house without being photographed and told I’m fat and horrible, while ‘B’ is so slim,” Evans wrote, referring to Wallace
Gruffudd filed for joint custody of his two daughters last July after Alice sought sole custody during their acrimonious divorce
He said the restraining order has caused Evans’ name to be “slandered,” adding, “This was a violation of her civil rights.”
The LA deputy district attorney prosecuting the case declined to comment.
The restraining order had put the former couple’s bitter divorce and custody battle over their two daughters, Ella, 13, and Elsie, 9, on hold – much to Gruffudd’s chagrin.
The feuding exes were due to appear at a custody hearing last month, where Gruffudd hoped his request would be granted for more time with his daughters than the one day a week he now gets.
But Evans asked the family court judge in the divorce case to postpone that hearing until after her restraining order trial.
Evans was accused of ignoring a restraining order that Welsh actor Gruffudd had against her
Her attorney, Marie LaMolinara, argued that the testimony given by Alice at the custody hearing could be used against her in her criminal trial if held later, violating her rights, under the 5th Amendment not to incriminate herself. to blame.
Family Court Judge Josh Freeman Stinn — who is presiding over the couple’s messy divorce — agreed and postponed the custody hearing to July 13, despite strong opposition from Gruffudd who accused Alice of “damaging his relationship with his daughters.”
But with Evans out of court, Gruffudd could go back to Judge Stinn to request that the July 13 custody hearing be held earlier.
Gruffudd was married to Evans for 14 years before they separated
Gruffudd and Evans met while filming the movie 102 Dalmatians in 1999
Alice risked breaking her restraining order by taking to social media to post about their divorce
Gruffudd filed for divorce in March last year after Evans claimed on social media that her husband of 14 years had abandoned her and their two daughters.
Evans continued to shoot at him until he sought the restraining order preventing her from sharing their private messages or bashing him and Wallace online.
Gruffudd filed for joint custody of his two daughters last July after Evans filed for sole custody during their acrimonious divorce.
In addition to applying for visitation rights, he claimed in the filing that Evans had deliberately tried to cut off communication between him and his children.
He also petitioned that the girls attend personal therapy and reunion therapy via Zoom with him pending court-ordered custody mediation.
In lawsuits, Gruffudd accused Evans of verbally abusing him during their marriage and of “undermining” him all their lives in front of the girls.”
“Alice often joked about my appearance, made comments about hair loss and told me I had ‘drooping vagina eyes,'” the court read.
He further claimed that Evans “caused serious emotional damage to Ella and Elsie by her statements and by interfering in my relationship with them.”
Gruffudd claimed in his application that Evans had disrupted communication between him and his children. Gruffudd accused Evans of verbally abusing him during their marriage and of “undermining” him all their lives in front of the girls.
In a video before the former couple’s divorce in January 2021, which Gruffudd presented as evidence in the filing, Evans reportedly told Ella that she was “going to have a new father.”
“In a FaceTime I had with the girls on March 3, Ella said that Alice told her falsely that I wanted Alice to kill herself and that Ella would probably be without a mummy,” Gruffudd wrote in the petition.
“Ella said to me, ‘Dad, this makes me very sad,’ and ‘if I don’t agree with her, I’m apparently a bad daughter.’
Evans risked breaking her restraining order by taking to social media to post about their divorce.
On Instagram, she wrote, “I’m training to calm myself down because I’m GASLIT. Damn GASLIT.
‘With my children, with the places I usually go. Everything. I can’t leave the house without being photographed and told I’m fat and horrible while “B” is so slim….
She signed off, “…I can’t go much longer.”
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