Rape and abduction charges against former Virginia wide receiver Jahmal Edrine were dropped on Thursday, less than a month before his jury trial was set to begin.
Judge Claude Worrell granted a motion from Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Susan Baumgartner at a brief hearing in Charlottesville. The four-day trial had been scheduled to start Nov. 16.
The motion was a nolle prosequi, which ends the current prosecution while leaving the Commonwealth able to bring the charges back later. Baumgartner said prosecutors wanted more time for additional investigation into what she called collateral matters, with information and witnesses located out of state.
“The defendant would not agree to a continuance, so the Commonwealth chose to nol pros the current charges,” Baumgartner said.
Edrine’s attorneys, Rhonda Quagliana and Lawrence H. Woodward Jr., said evidence from the accuser’s cellphone, which they gained access to after months of litigation, supports Edrine’s position that the encounter was consensual.
The contents of the phone remain under a protective order. The attorneys also argued that police waited five months to pursue charges and did no further investigation after the indictment.
“What happened to Jahmal was a true miscarriage of justice,” the defense said in a statement. “He was charged and arrested and has spent almost a year fighting these false accusations. We have always believed in Jahmal’s innocence and have argued for today’s outcome from the very beginning. We fought hard and secured additional evidence that led to today’s result.
“There are many things in that press release that are not accurate,” Baumgartner told 29News, adding that she would not argue the case in the media.
NEW: Rape and abduction charges against former UVA WR Jahmal Edrine have been dismissed today.
Edrine was forced to miss the 2026 season because of these allegations.
— College Transfer Portal (@CollegeFBPortal) October 22, 2026
What the case cost Edrine on the field
Edrine, who previously played at Florida Atlantic and Purdue, caught 46 passes for 564 yards and a touchdown during Virginia’s 11-2 season in 2025 and had announced he would return to the Cavaliers for 2026 about three weeks before he was indicted. The alleged incident dated to Aug. 24, 2025, and Albemarle County police opened their investigation the next day.
An Albemarle County grand jury indicted him on Feb. 2, 2026, and he was arrested on Feb. 5 and initially held without bond before being released on bail. Virginia confirmed shortly afterward that he was no longer enrolled at the university, and he has not played this season.The defense described Thursday’s outcome as a vindication that cannot undo the damage to his education, football career and reputation, and asked that his name be restored. The Commonwealth’s position points the other way, since the nolle prosequi keeps refiling available to prosecutors. Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Hingeley and the Albemarle County Police Department declined to comment on the case.
As of Thursday, no new charges had been filed against Edrine, and prosecutors had not said when they expect to finish the additional investigation they cited in court as the reason for the motion.
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