City Attorney Pete Holmes's office is dropping a misdemeanor assault charge against Seattle Police Officer James Lee, the cop who was videotaped rushing into a Belltown convenience store last fall and repeatedly kicking a 17-year-old boy in the groin and head—a boy who, in the video, has his hands raised and appears cooperative.

Why the sudden change of heart?

Holmes office cites "information that only recently came to light," specifically, Lee's own use of force statement (which won't be available without filing a lengthy public records request—if at all). From the City Attorney's press release:

At the request of Police Chief John Diaz, the Washington State Patrol independently investigated the case and forwarded its conclusions to CAO’s Criminal Division. When determining whether Lee’s use of force was reasonable under the circumstances, the Criminal Division relied on the State Patrol investigation, which included an expert opinion by Robert Bragg of the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission. In preparing his opinion, Bragg reviewed the related police reports, witness statements, audio recordings and visual recordings. SPD did not provide Bragg with Lee’s “use of force” statement, which was prepared as a result of the department’s separate and internal investigation.

Without reviewing Lee’s statement, Bragg had previously opined: “Using the facts currently available to me and viewed in the light most favorable to Officer Lee, the force used to apprehend Suspect [D’Vontaveous] Hoston was reasonable and necessary as well as within the teachings of the Criminal Justice Training Commission except for the 3rd and final kick delivered to Suspect Hoston’s head.” Because Bragg concluded that the third kick was not reasonable and necessary, the Criminal Division filed the assault charge against Lee.

... After the charge against Lee had been pending for several months, Criminal Division attorneys reached an agreement with the officer’s defense attorney to provide the use-of-force statement to the prosecution’s expert witness. On Nov. 11, Bragg was supplied additional information by the defense, including Lee’s Garrity statement. As a result of that review, Bragg issued a supplemental opinion on Nov. 21, as follows: “In short, and using the additional evidence viewed in the light most favorable to Officer Lee, I now believe that the force in question, the third and final kick, used to control Suspect D’Vontaveous Hoston was reasonable and within the teachings of the Criminal Justice Training Commission (albeit not the best tactic available).”

“As I stated in connection with the initial charging decision,” Holmes said Wednesday, “we understand that our police officers have a dangerous job. They are thus permitted the legal ability to use reasonable force in apprehending people suspected of having committed a crime. When the force used is not reasonable under the circumstances, the officer must be held accountable.”

“Now that our expert witness has changed his opinion, the interests of justice require me to dismiss this charge. I appreciate the professional manner in which Office Lee and his defense counsel cooperated in our good-faith investigation of this matter,” Holmes concluded.

It must've been one hell of a persuasive statement.