Rick Ross arrested in Miami on domestic violence-linked battery charges
Rick Ross was arrested in Miami on the morning of October 1 on a felony charge of battery by strangulation.
He faces a second charge, misdemeanour battery, over the same arrest. Both charges were described as linked to domestic violence, Pitchfork reported.
A felony is the more serious category of criminal charge under United States law. A misdemeanour is a less serious category of offence. The distinction matters because the two types of charge carry different procedures and different possible penalties.
Miami Beach police booked Ross at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. The booking is the administrative process by which a person in custody is recorded at a detention facility. No further details about the circumstances of the arrest were included in the verified report.
His arraignment is scheduled for October 22. An arraignment is the formal court hearing at which a defendant enters a plea. That hearing is the next confirmed step in the case.
Days before the arrest, Jazzma Kendrick had publicly accused Ross of physical abuse. Kendrick was identified as Ross’s ex-girlfriend. The accusation came before any charge was filed.
Charges and public accusations are not findings of guilt. An allegation sets out what is claimed. A criminal charge must then be tested in court.
For readers unfamiliar with the process, that separation is important. Police can arrest and book a person on suspicion of an offence. Prosecutors then pursue the case, and a court determines the outcome. The arraignment on October 22 will formalise how Ross responds to the charges.
The current case is separate from an earlier matter in Miami Beach. In August 2011, Ross was stopped in traffic and later faced misdemeanour charges of battery and resisting arrest. Those charges were dropped, the Miami Herald reported.
A dropped charge means the case did not proceed. It is not a finding for or against the person who was charged. It closes that particular matter.
What happens next will be decided through the court process. The confirmed dates are the arrest on October 1 and the arraignment on October 22. Any further action will depend on proceedings in court.
