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NFL Linebacker Smith signs with Raiders but faces charges

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Aldon Smith, pictured here on September 22, 2013 in San Francisco, could face an NFL suspension in connection with his latest legal woes (AFP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)

Los Angeles (AFP) - NFL linebacker Aldon Smith was formally charged with three misdemeanors on Friday in relation to a drink-driving arrest even as the Oakland Raiders signed him to a one-year contract.

Smith was released by the San Francisco 49ers on August 7 after his third drink-driving arrest in three years.

On Friday, prosecutors in Santa Clara, California, said he would be arraigned on October 6 on misdemeanor charges in that case of driving under the influence with a prior conviction and refusal to submit to a chemical test, hit and run with property damage and vandalism with damage under $400.