The Mexican pitcher Julio Urías originally had an appointment in a Los Angeles court this May 2 for the arraignment for his domestic violence casebut the former Dodgers star reached an agreement this Wednesday that seems to smooth out his outlook with justice.
Julio Urías pleaded no contest (“no contest”) to one of the five misdemeanor charges he received on April 8 as a result of an incident he had with his wife Daisy. The charge is “domestic battery involving a domestic relationship,” coded 242/243(e)(1). The other four charges were dropped, according to court records.
Urías, 27, was placed on probation or summary probation for 36 months. This is probation in cases of minor crimes. He was also ordered to complete 30 days of community service and a 52-week domestic violence counseling course.
In addition, the Mexican pitcher must pay an unspecified fine to the domestic violence fund, he is not allowed to possess any weapon, nor use force or violence, he must pay restitution to the victim and comply with an order, he told him. a spokesperson for the Los Angeles city attorney’s office told La Opinion.
By pleading no contest to the aforementioned charge of assault or domestic battery, Urías does not contest the charge for which he is accused, but neither does he admit factual guilt.
The four misdemeanor charges Urías had received were spousal battery, a second count of domestic battery, unlawful deprivation of liberty and battery, according to court records, the Los Angeles Daily News reported.
The panorama has become clearer for Julio Urías
For Urías, the picture began to become clearer on January 9 when his case was sent to the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office as a misdemeanor.
Urías was arrested on the night of September 3 of last year when leaving the BMO stadium after attending the LAFC match against Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami with his partner. After a few hours in custody, he was released on bail. Shortly after, he was placed on administrative leave by Major League Baseball while the case was investigated.
“They became involved in an argument where the defendant pushed the victim against a fence and pulled her by the hair or shoulders.”, reads the document issued by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. “Neither the victim’s injuries nor the defendant’s criminal history justify the filing of a felony. The case is accordingly referred to the city prosecutor’s office for misdemeanor considerations.”
At the end of the baseball season, Urías became a free agent. By then the Dodgers had made it clear that they would not try to rehire him by removing his name from the locker in the locker room and erasing all images of him in the stadium.
In eight years with the Dodgers in the Big League, Urías had a 60-25 record and a 3.11 earned run average. In 2021 he led the MLB in games won with 20 and in 2022 he led the National League in ERA with 2.16. However, in 2023 he did not do well (11-8, 4.60) before the night of the arrest.
MLB has not issued any sanction against Urías since he does not have a team, in addition to the fact that the court case was ongoing. Urías was suspended 20 games by MLB in 2019 due to a first incident of domestic violence.
While Julio Urías’ next stop in baseball is yet to be defined – it has been mentioned that he could go to Japan – his legal situation is already very clear.