SANTA CLARA — CEO Jed York said Tuesday he does not have enough information to determine whether 49ers defensive tackle Ray McDonald is guilty or not following an arrest nine days earlier on suspicion of domestic violence.

“I will not punish somebody until we see evidence something should be done or until an entire police investigation shows us something,” York said on KNBR 680-AM in explaining why the 49ers allowed McDonald to play in Sunday’s season-opening win at Dallas.

McDonald’s case comes amid public uproar on how the NFL is dealing with Ray Rice’s domestic-violence incident. The Baltimore Ravens released Rice on Monday once TMZ revealed video of him knocking out his then-fiancée in a New Jersey’s casino elevator Feb. 15. After initially disciplining Rice in July with a two-game suspension, the NFL altered course Monday and indefinitely suspended him.

“Each case is its own separate case. Ray McDonald is not Ray Rice,” York said. “As a society, we have a sense of saying, ‘You didn’t do it with Ray Rice right away, so you need to overdo it with Ray McDonald, or whoever else it is.’ I don’t believe that’s the country we live in. I don’t think that’s a fair way to approach it.”

McDonald was arrested early Aug. 31 at his home after San Jose police arrived and discovered “visible injuries” on the victim, believed to be McDonald’s fiancée. McDonald practiced all last week, started Sunday’s season opener and played 60 snaps, more than any other defensive lineman. McDonald had three tackles.

“I don’t have enough information to convict Ray McDonald in one way or another,” York said. “The legal process hasn’t vetted itself. The criminal investigation has not vetted itself yet.

“Once it’s done, our stand toward domestic violence has been made abundantly clear by Jim, by Trent, hopefully by me. We’re just not going to tolerate it.”

York said he hadn’t spoken publicly until Tuesday because the 49ers speak in “one voice,” and that his views were expressed earlier by general manager Trent Baalke and coach Jim Harbaugh.

“It’s very important we do let due process take its course,” York said. “It’s very important we don’t judge somebody before charges are filed or anything else happens.”

Baalke and Harbaugh took similar stances last week, tempering their zero-tolerance view of domestic violence with McDonald’s right to “due process.” Harbaugh insisted that “facts and information” would ultimately decide McDonald’s fate, and the coach said Friday he felt the 49ers had learned enough to allow McDonald his “liberty” to play Sunday.

“Just by based on watching him play you wouldn’t know there was anything going on,” defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said on KNBR, prior to York’s appearance. “He played the way he normally does.”

San Jose police had been dispatched to McDonald’s home at least once prior to the domestic-violence arrest, responding to an unspecified disturbance in May, according to the Sacramento Bee.

With a NFL-high 10 arrests since 2012, York said the 49ers “haven’t lived up to that expectation” of acting in a more proper fashion. In terms of enforcing discipline, York also cited flaws in the league’s collective bargaining agreement with the players union.

“We certainly need to take a very hard look at ourselves as a league and figure out a better way to do this,” York said. “Coming back to Ray McDonald, we’ve got a collective bargaining agreement in place that makes it difficult for the teams to take an action, for the league to take action.

“We need to set any negotiating aside and figure if there’s a better way through collective bargaining and through everything to look at domestic violence.”

York said he’s spoken with his wife, Danielle, and his mother, Denise, regarding the 49ers’ stance toward domestic violence.

Asked if NFL commissioner Roger Goodell did his job well or should he be reprimanded by owners, York replied: “It was obviously acknowledged that it was bungled by the league, and they came back and corrected it. Ray didn’t take the field in the regular season. He was already down. They suspended him for the year. Could it have happened sooner? I don’t understand the video, what was seen, when it was seen, how it wasn’t seen. I don’t know the answers to that.”

Former 49ers stars Steve Young and Ronnie Lott came out in recent days and said they wouldn’t have played McDonald on Sunday, regardless of whether “due process” has played out.

“It’s a fair argument,” York said. “Clearly, until we can go through an entire process and understand all the facts … again, I’d much rather have somebody criticize me for that than punishing somebody who might be innocent, and put them in a position where we’re presuming guilt before you give them an opportunity to prove their innocence.”