Nick Gordon, who was held legally responsible for death of then-girlfriend Bobbi Kristina Brown in 2015, will not go to court over claims that he beat another of his partners in June.
Laura Leal, 26, accused Gordon, 21, of pinning her to a bed and punching her for hours in a drink- and drug-fueled rage in Sanford, Florida.
But now DailyMail.com has learned that prosecutors have dropped charges against Gordon – because Leal told the judge directly she wanted the case shut down.
Case dropped: Prosecutors have dropped their assault case against Nick Gordon (right) after allegedly battered ex Laura Leal (left) wrote to the judge asking for clemency for him
Arrested: Gordon (left, in mugshot) was arrested on June 10 for allegedly beating Leal for six hours, leading to bruising (right, on June 12). Leal said at the time she thought she might die
Death: In 2015 Gordon had been found legally responsible for the death of Bobbi Kristina Brown (both seen in 2012), who was found unconscious and on drugs in his bath. She died after lying in a coma for six months
Gordon was arrested after an alleged altercation at their home in Arbor Lakes Apartments on June 10, and police had wanted to charge him with felony false imprisonment.
But prosecutors said the evidence wasn’t going to hold up in court, and the charge was downgraded to misdemeanor assault and battery.
According to an official document seen by DailyMail.com, Leal, who in June called Gordon ‘psychotic,’ had initially been helpful with the police’s investigation.
However, it said, ‘Leal became unhappy with the criminal justice process’ and started harranguing police to get them to drop the case.
She then put down her demands in writing – first in a written statement that she didn’t want to continue prosecution, and then by writing directly to the judge in charge of the case.
Unhappy: Leal (pictured) was initially helpful but became ‘unhappy with the criminal justice process,’ according to a document obtained by DailyMail.com, and began to change her story
According to the document, also began to make ‘statements that indicated further or conflicting accounts of the original incident’.
That, plus the fact that she was the only witness to the alleged incident, led to prosecutors shutting the case down.
However, the document notes that prosecutors ‘sought and obtained proof that sanctions requiring Mr Gordon to undergo a four hour Anger Management Course and a four hour Alcohol and Substance Abuse Course had been successfully completed prior to filing the notice of no prosecution.’
Exactly what caused Leal’s about-face, but it may seem surprising, given the strong words she had about Gordon previously.
In June, she told DailyMail.com that she thought she could have ended up like Bobbi Kristina, who was in a coma for six months prior to her 2015 death, after being found in Gordon’s bathtub with a cocktail of drugs in her system.
Gordon never faced criminal charges, but was found legally responsible for her death in a civil case that demanded he pay her family $36 million in damages.
‘I’ve been reading the reports about Bobbi Kristina and I’m physically shaking,’ she told DailyMail.com at the time.
‘I read about her being isolated, her family not knowing where she was, the manipulation, the bullying – it’s the exact same thing.
‘That could have been me. Only the Grace of God saved me.’
Dropped: Leal then began to demand that cops drop the investigation, and wrote a statement saying she didn’t want to prosecute before petitioning the presiding judge
Change of heart: Leal had said in June that she didn’t want to see Gordon behind bars for years but that he had to be jailed to save other women. Exactly why she changed her mind is unclear
Leal, who is 5’2″, said that the 6’1″ Gordon had begun slapping or pushing her once a week, leaving her hiding bruises under makeup – and blaming herself.
‘I thought he loved me but how can you love someone when you put them through this hell?’ she said. ‘It’s like a double personality in one person. He’s psychotic.
‘I didn’t ever see him take heroin or crack but now I’m wondering if he was doing that behind my back.’
Things escalated on the night of June 9, when they were out drinking. She said he went to his car to collect a phone charger, and returned an hour later different – ‘like a switch had been flicked’.
That sparked an argument that became more heated once they got back to Gordon’s home, which he shares with his mom, and he began accusing her of sleeping with his friend, she said.
She denied the claims – and then he threw her onto the bed and began beating her, she alleged.
‘He literally sat on top of me on the bed punching my head with his big a** body on top of me,’ she claimed. ‘I was punched so hard that I was seeing colors and a bright flashing light.
‘I thought I was going to go blind and wondered whether I was ever going to be able to see again. I thought to myself, am I dying?’
She said the attack went on for six hours, and that she was too scared to bolt for the door because she thought he would catch and overpower her.
At 7am the following morning, she picked up a candlestick in a last-ditch attempt and clubbed him with it, she said.
Court in the act: She said she thought Gordon (seen here in a bail hearing on June 11) may have been on drugs when he hit her. Prosecutors said he finished anger management and drug and drink abuse courses before prosecution was dropped
‘I didn’t mean to break his nose but it was a survival instinct,’ she said. ‘He looked at me with such hate that I will never forget it.
‘He raised his fist like he was about to knock me out so I opened the door and ran into his mom’s room.
‘She hopped out of bed, I said ”Michelle I need to get home” and she said she would take me. She is a great woman. She saved my life. ‘Nick threw my stuff all over the sidewalk but it ended right there.’
Leal said at the time that she did not want to see Gordon in jail, but that she needed to press on with the prosecution to keep other women safe.
‘Honestly I do still care about him,’ she said. ‘This is hell compared to what I wanted us to be. I feel like he’s gone through enough. He’s in jail now and he doesn’t know when he going to get out.
‘But I can’t let anyone else get hurt. I just pray that he finally gets the help he needs because without professional help he’ll never get out of this.’
On June 23, it emerged that another woman had come forward, saying she had photographic evidence of abuse Gordon had inflicted on her.
Whether her contributions to the case are still being considered by police is unknown.
Free: Gordon (seen after making $15,000 bail on June 13, and wearing an ankle bracelet) will no longer face a court trial for the alleged beating