LOS ANGELES — John Conyers III, a Detroit hedge fund manager named as a possible successor to his scandal-rocked father, Rep. John Conyers, was arrested in Los Angeles this year on suspicion of domestic violence, but prosecutors declined to charge him, according to documents obtained by NBC News.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office cited a “lack of independent witnesses” and their conclusion that it “could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the victim’s injury was not accidentally sustained” while he was disarming her, according to case paperwork.
In addition, prosecutors said the victim had no visible injuries beyond a small stab wound to her lower bicep and no other independent witnesses to what she described as earlier pushing and shoving by Conyers III.
Conyers III, 27, was arrested on Feb. 15 at a Los Angeles residence on suspicion of violence against his girlfriend after the alleged victim called police. The victim was not named in the document that recorded the decision not to file charges.
Related: John Conyers retires from Congress, endorses son, amid harassment scandal
The girlfriend said that Conyers III suspected her of cheating after he went through her computer. She told police that he “body slammed her on the bed and then on the floor where he pinned her down and spit on her,” the report says.
She said when she tried to call police, he took her phone and then chased her into the kitchen, where she grabbed a knife and told him to leave. By her account, he took the knife and swung it at her, cutting her arm.
Both of them called 911 to complain about the other. Conyers III said the girlfriend had been using booze and pot, tried to throw him out the residence, and then got into a pushing and shoving match with him. He said she threatened him with the knife and was cut in a struggle for it.
Conyers III was taken into custody and released in lieu of $50,000 bond the same day, police said.
Conyers’ father announced his resignation from Congress after more than 50 years representing Detroit Tuesday in the face of a number of allegations of sexual misconduct and said he hoped his son would take over for him.
“I have a great family here and especially in my oldest boy, John Conyers III, who, incidentally, I endorse to replace me in my seat in Congress,” the congressman said in an interview on Detroit radio station WPZR.
Afterward, Conyers III said in a statement that he had not decided whether to run but hoped to do so by the end of the year “once I have taken the time to thoroughly listen to our community.”
Another family member, Michigan state Sen. Ian Conyers, the grandson of Conyers’ brother, told The New York Times that he plans to run for his great-uncle’s seat.
Conyers’ III Facebook says he attended New York University and Morehouse College in Atlanta and identifies him as managing partner at EIA Alpha Partners Fund Management, based in Detroit. The agency didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Speaking to reporters last week after the allegations against his father emerged, Conyers III said, “With sexual assault, women are to be believed.”
