A Central Texas man may have been exonerated thanks to a selfie after he was accused of attacking his ex-girlfriend, according to a report from ABC News.
Cristopher "CJ" Precopia was arrested in September 2017 for burglary of a habitation with intent to commit another felony after police said he cut an "x" into the skin of his ex-girlfriend with a box cutter.
The arrest affidavit said Temple Police received a report of an assault with weapons. When an officer arrived, he saw damage to the handle of the front screen door.
The woman told the officer that Precopia came towards her in an aggressive manner, pushed her to the ground, punched her in the face and then cut her with a box cutter on Sept. 20, 2017.
Two days later, Precopia was arrested.
Precopia's mother, Erin Precopia, told ABC News the two dated briefly while her son was in high school. She said the breakup was not amicable.
Erin said when she learned of the date and time the woman said she was attacked, Sept. 20, 2017, around 7:20 p.m., it struck a chord with her.
At that time, Erin and CJ were at the Renaissance Austin Hotel for a Roden + Fields event, and they had a picture to prove it.
The metadata for the photo was examined by a forensic expert hired by the Bell County Prosecutor's Office and proved it was taken on Sept. 20 at 7:02 p.m.
More evidence of CJ's whereabouts was collected through text message conversations and sworn affidavits from people the mother and son interacted with that night.
The case was dismissed on June 21, 2018 by the Bell County Prosecutor's Office, but that didn't erase the repercussions CJ and Erin faced due to the accusation.
The Precopias had to pay 10 percent in cash of CJ's $150,000 bond and spent another $100,000 in attorney's fees, ABC News reported.
"He's not the same kid that he was a year and a half ago, which breaks my heart," Erin Precopia said.
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