Los Angeles district attorney declines to charge Armie Hammer in sex assault case over lack of evidence

Embattled actor Armie Hammer will not face criminal charges in connection with an investigation for sexual assault in Los Angeles County, prosecutors said Wednesday.

The Los Angeles district attorney cited a lack of evidence.

In a video news conference on March 18, 2021, a woman said that in April 2017 Hammer raped her for four hours, physically assaulted her and committed other violent acts against her.

Hammer denied the accusations.

Regarding Wednesday's decision, Tiffiny Blacknell, director of the Bureau of Communications for the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office, noted, "Sexual assault cases are often difficult to prove, which is why we assign our most experienced prosecutors to review them. In this case, those prosecutors conducted an extremely thorough review, but determined that at this time, there is insufficient evidence to charge Mr. Hammer with a crime."

The statement continued, "As prosecutors, we have an ethical responsibility to only charge cases that we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt. We know that it is hard for women to report sexual assault. Even when we cannot move forward with a prosecution, our victim service representatives will be available to those who seek our victim support services."

It concluded, "Due to the complexity of the relationship and inability to prove a non-consensual, forcible sexual encounter we are unable to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt."

Hammer's career was derailed in January 2021 when his ex-girlfriend Paige Lorenze released unverified DMs that allegedly came from Hammer and claimed the actor harbored fantasies involving cannibalism. In addition, the 22-year-old alleged Hammer was "obsessed" with the idea of "taking a piece of me...and consuming it."

The accusations in this case also came to light that year.

Hammer's attorneys have claimed all of his relationships have been consensual.

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