“Dancing With the Stars” alum Artem Chigvintsev won't face domestic violence charges
Nikki Garcia filed for divorce from Chigvintsev less than two weeks after his arrest Aug. 29.
Dancing With the Stars alum Artem Chigvintsev will not face criminal charges following his August arrest on suspicion of felony domestic violence.
Allison Haley, the district attorney in California's Napa County, made the announcement Tuesday, following an investigation.
"While we take every arrest seriously and stand firmly against domestic violence, we have an ethical obligation to only file charges when supported by the evidence," Haley said in a statement. "We are required to prove any and every criminal charge 'beyond a reasonable doubt' which is the highest standard in the American criminal justice system. If the available evidence doesn't rise to this level of proof, then we cannot ethically file charges."
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Artem Chigvintsev will not be charged in his arrestThe district attorney's statement noted that a felony charge of domestic violence has a three-year statute of limitations, during which the office can revisit a case if it learns new information.
Chigvintsev was arrested Aug. 29 at his home. Nikki Garcia, his wife since 2022, was not named, but he was reportedly booked on a charge of corporal injury to a spouse.
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EW has reached out to representatives for Chigvintsev and Garcia.
Garcia — also known as former WWE wrestler Nikki Bella, one half of the Bella Twins — filed for divorce from Chigvintsev on Sept. 11.
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Artem Chigvintsev and Nikki Garcia are divorcingThe two had been matched as dancing partners when she competed on the show in 2017. After confirming their relationship in 2019, they were engaged. Garcia and Chigvintsev welcomed a son, Matteo, in July 2020. They married two years later.
According to PEOPLE, Garcia requested in her filing that she have sole legal and physical custody of their son, while Chigvintsev kept visitation rights. Meanwhile, Chigvintsev requested joint legal and physical custody of their son.
EW learned in August that there had never been plans for Chigvintsev to join the current season of Dancing With the Stars, even before his arrest.
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