Photos of Greg Hardy's former girlfriend show multiple injuries
— -- A year and a half after defensive end Greg Hardy was arrested and charged with attacking and threatening his then-girlfriend, Nicole Holder, the public is getting its first look at the injuries Hardy allegedly inflicted on her.
The pictures released Friday show Holder with multiple bruises all over her body and include several of Hardy with marks on his face.
Deadspin obtained the photos, along with hundreds of pages of records in the case, and published them on its site Friday afternoon.
Hardy, who plays for the Dallas Cowboys but at the time was a member of the Carolina Panthers, was accused by Holder of throwing her against a bathroom wall, throwing her on a bed covered with assault rifles, choking her and threatening her life during an altercation at his apartment.
Hardy was convicted on charges of domestic violence against Holder in 2014 in a bench trial. He appealed, seeking a jury trial, but the case was thrown out in February 2015, when Holder, the accuser, stopped cooperating with authorities.
When the case was thrown out, Hardy asked that the charges be expunged from his record, The Charlotte Observer reports. In April, he filed paperwork with the same request, and a judge in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, signed the order this week.
That means the incident is not listed on Hardy's record.
Hardy missed a year of football. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones recently praised Hardy as a "real leader" and said the team was hopeful of extending him.
Neither the NFL nor the Cowboys would comment about the photos on Friday. The NFL Players Association hasn't responded to a request for comment.
Neither Hardy nor Holder have publicly spoken much about what happened that night. Records of the legal proceedings have been sealed from the public. Holder, who originally worked with police, went silent after prosecutors said they had "reliable information" that Holder and Hardy had reached a civil settlement and that she "intentionally made herself unavailable to the State."
A source tells ESPN's Ed Werder that the NFL saw all of the police photos released Friday during a trip to North Carolina by NFL investigator Lisa Friel in April, before Hardy was suspended by the NFL. The source tells Werder that the NFL also sued the state of North Carolina for the right to view seven additional photos related to the incident.
In addition, a league source tells Werder that at no time during the NFL's investigation, nor through his suspension and appeal, did Hardy demonstrate any remorse for the incident.
Hardy was placed on the NFL commissioner's exempt list on Sept. 17, 2014. He signed a one-year, $11.3 million deal with the Cowboys on March 18, 2015. That month, Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said they evaluated Hardy as a player and investigated his background, going as far back as high school.
Said Garrett: "We are going to give him a chance, and we are going to give him a chance under conditions we think will bring out the best in him and we're going to hold him accountable for that. No one is for domestic violence."
A source told ESPN.com's Todd Archer that the Cowboys did not have access to the photos at the time they signed Hardy.
Hardy was suspended by the NFL on April 22 for the first 10 games of this season, but that suspension was reduced to four games by arbitrator Harold Henderson on July 10. Hardy returned to action on Oct. 11.
