Elissa Ennis, the former girlfriend of San Francisco 49ers linebacker Reuben Foster has admitted that she "lied a lot" to authorities about an alleged domestic violence incident. Ennis testified in a preliminary hearing on Thursday (May. 17) that Foster never put his hands on her and she made the whole thing up after he ended their relationship. Ennis, who testified against the advice of her attorney Stephanie Rickard, said she felt she needed to tell the truth because she "had to do the right thing."

According to Ennis, she made up the story because she wanted to ruin Foster's career and sue him for money after he broke up with her on the morning of Feb. 11. In addition to the false domestic violence accusations, Ennis also stole $8,000 from Foster's account (it has since been seized by the bank and returned to Foster) and two Rolex watches (which remain in Ennis' safe deposit box in Louisiana) in the days after their breakup.

"I was pissed, and I wanted to end him," Ennis testified.

She broke down in tears multiple times during her two-hour testimony as she recalled her and Foster's breakup, which she said led to her attempt to "ruin" Foster's career and enact what she called a "money scheme."

"I'm sorry. I really am," Ennis said. "I apologize to everybody."

Foster sat stoically throughout Ennis' testimony; he occasionally leaned over to speak with his attorney, Josh Bentley and took notes on a legal pad.

Ennis also admitted that this wasn't the first time she made up allegations for revenge, she also revealed that she falsely accused a former boyfriend of domestic violence in Louisiana in 2011 after he attempted to break up with her as well.

On the Feb. 11 incident, Ennis told authorities that in a domestic altercation Foster had hit her eight to 10 times, dragged her out of his house, threw her to the ground and spit on her. She also alleged that Foster broke her phone and threw their dog at her. Among the injuries Ennis suffered was a ruptured eardrum that required a hospital visit later that day.

Following Ennis' allegations, Foster was arraigned on felony charges of domestic violence, forcefully attempting to prevent a victim from reporting a crime and possessing an assault weapon.

Ennis testified Thursday morning that all those allegations were lies. The injuries she suffered were instead inflicted during a fight she was involved in San Francisco on the night of Feb. 10. Ennis had returned home to Louisiana and spoke with authorities in Los Gatos via telephone on Feb. 13 and told Detective Jim Wiens that about that fight and the injuries she sustained there but he had doubts about it and did not follow up with authorities in San Francisco because he did not have a location or further information to go on.

According to Ennis, after getting her hair done near Oakland, she was headed toward Pier 39 in San Francisco when another driver cut her off. Ennis said she returned the favor and two drivers pulled over to the side of the road after motioning at each other. They then engaged in a fight that lasted about 15 minutes. A 22-second video of that fight emerged on social media soon after, and a friend sent it to Ennis in mid-March, which she then turned over to her attorney for review. After returning to the home in Los Gatos that she shared with Foster, Ennis said she tried to tell him about the fight, but he didn't want to hear about it. When they woke up the next morning, he told her he wanted to end their relationship while she was making him breakfast. Ennis credited Foster's decision to break up with her because he was feeling "embarrassed" by her actions.

In addition to Ennis' confession, and Weins' testimony, the other testimony heard was from a man who was driving a car that Ennis flagged down so she could call 9-1-1 on the morning of Feb. 11. That man testified that Ennis approached his car in a calm manner and asked to use his phone. She had initially told authorities that she needed that man's phone because Foster broke hers, but she later testified that that was false and that she threw her phone at Foster after he broke up with her.

At the end of the preliminary hearing, Judge Nona L. Klippen said she would take time to consider the evidence before making a ruling Wednesday. Should the judge rule that charges will continue to a jury trial, that would happen in July.

Source: espn.com