A domestic assault charge against Roanoke's police chief was dismissed Friday in Newport News after prosecutors concluded they had no probable cause to take the case to trial.

"Any way you sliced it, even if I took the victim's story as gospel, it didn't amount to a crime," said Laurel Uhlar, an assistant commonwealth's attorney in Newport News.

The decision comes more than six weeks after Joe Gaskins' estranged wife, Veronica Gaskins, swore out a domestic assault warrant against him after an encounter in Newport News. Word of the allegation led to Gaskins' resignation as chairman of a state criminal justice advisory board. And the city manager's decision to keep the chief on active duty raised questions of fairness among some police officers and community members.

"I have said consistently ... that I felt like it was a matter for the court to decide," Darlene Burcham, the city manager, said Friday. "I consider the matter handled and closed."

The trial had been scheduled for next week. Gaskins did not appear at the hearing Friday.

Gaskins referred questions to his lawyer, David Olson, who declined to comment on the case. Veronica Gaskins could not be reached for comment.

According to Uhlar's findings, Veronica Gaskins visited her husband at his uncle's house June 27. She knocked on the door and called inside to Gaskins, and when the door opened several minutes later, Veronica Gaskins burst inside, Uhlar said.

Gaskins repeatedly asked his wife to leave but she refused and stayed between 30 minutes and an hour, Uhlar said. She told Gaskins he couldn't order her to leave because it wasn't his house, Uhlar said.

"At one time, he put his hands on her shoulders and walked her down the hall," Uhlar said. When Veronica Gaskins asked him to release her, he did, the prosecutor said.

"He really could have picked her up and put her out the front door, but he didn't," Uhlar said.

Newport News police had said that Veronica Gaskins accused her husband of pushing her down some steps. But Veronica Gaskins told Uhlar she had never made the allegation, the prosecutor said.

According to Uhlar, the wording in Veronica Gaskins' complaint could easily have been misread to infer that he had shoved her down some stairs. The complaint has not been made available to the public.

Police have said, too, that Veronica Gaskins used a tire iron to shatter the lights and windows of her husband's Cadillac during the incident.

The chief declined to pursue charges against his wife for the attack on the car, Uhlar said.

Rupert Cutler, a Roanoke city councilman, said he was not surprised that the misdemeanor charge was dismissed. "I'm pleased with the outcome," he said. "I hope we can all put this behind us."

Another councilman, Sherman Lea, said he was glad the case has been concluded. Shortly after news of the allegation spread in June, Lea urged Burcham to quickly make a decision about the chief's short-term job status and to share her reasoning with the public.

Burcham said later that she opted not to change Gaskins' work status after checking with several city departments to see whether other city employees facing misdemeanor charges had been suspended or placed on leave before their cases were settled in court. The officials assured Burcham that no such precedent existed, she said.

"I'm pleased to see that this episode has finally come to conclusion," Lea said. "I hope that the chief can resume his work without any damage to his integrity."