Former Nebraska interim head coach Mickey Joseph‘s assault case was dismissed Wednesday … after the woman who accused him of strangling her reportedly refused to testify.
The Lancaster County Attorney’s Office confirmed the dismissal to TMZ Sports … explaining the case has now been sealed.
According to the Associated Press, Erica Pruess, a prosecutor in Lancaster County, told a judge that she received an email from the accuser in Joseph’s case in February stating she would not testify.
Additionally, Pruess said law enforcement authorities in Arizona, where the woman allegedly lives, tried to serve her a summons requiring her to appear before a judge — but their attempts were unsuccessful.
55-year-old Joseph was initially arrested for assault by strangulation back in November … after police responded to his home, where he and his wife, Priscilla Joseph, live, to investigate a domestic dispute.
According to legal documents, Joseph had been embroiled in an argument with a woman who told police Joseph “pushed me on the couch and strangled me.”
The woman, who’s yet to be identified, told police that Joseph — who took over the reins for the Cornhuskers after the program fired Scott Frost in Sept. 2022 — punched her in the face during the alleged assault.
When police interviewed the accuser … they observed visible injuries and swelling around the woman’s left eye.
Nebraska placed Joseph on administrative leave following his arrest … but the program fired him two weeks later.
Matt Rhule had been named the school’s new head coach just two days prior to the arrest.