New evidence has left the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office ready to drop charges against a Pleasantville man accused in the vicious attack of a former girlfriend.
Marc Evangelista, 42, was jailed in November on charges that included attempted murder, after his former girlfriend claimed he viciously attacked her Oct. 30.
The woman was found on the floor bloodied and unconscious, with a rope allegedly used in the attack by her side, according to the original report. When she regained consciousness, she named Evangelista as her attacker.
But “new evidence leaves the state unable to prove its case without reasonable doubt,” Assistant Prosecutor Sevan Biramian told Superior Court Judge Patricia Wild on Tuesday.
Evangelista has insisted that the woman staged the attack to frame him.
What the new evidence is was not revealed in court.
Evangelista was ordered held in the case at a detention hearing in November before Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Waldman. But another hearing allowed him to be freed on an ankle monitor.
In court Friday, Biramian did not object to a defense motion to have the ankle bracelet removed.
The state intends to drop all charges related to the attack, but wants Evangelista to plead to a resisting charge, defense attorney Mary Linehan said in court. Evangelista refused.
He also turned down a deal in a still-pending burglary and obstruction case.
In that incident, Evangelista is accused of breaking into the home of his estranged wife’s sister, where the woman was staying, on May 26.
He allegedly waited in a closet, according to information previously released in court. But on Wednesday, the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office corrected that information, saying it was Evangelista's estranged wife who hid in the closet while he burglarized her sister's home.
He was later found hiding in the woods outside the house, the prosecutor said.
Officers who apprehended Evangelista at that time found property that had been taken from the home in the man’s vehicle, Biramian said.
Evangelista was offered a plea in that case that would have given him probation and no jail time.
If that case goes to trial, he could face a maximum of 6½ years in prison with 3½ years of parole ineligibility, Wild told him.
“That’s fine,” he told her. “I’m innocent.”
A trial is tentatively scheduled for July 8.
