Crime & Safety

UPDATE: Man Accusing Former Boro Council President is Facing Jackson Charges

Susan Rogers also filed complaint against same man for allegedly damaging her Boro home

A simple assault trial for former Point Borough Council President Susan Rogers is adjourned for now, because the alleged victim in the case is facing related charges that have to be addressed first, a municipal court judge decided Wednesday.

Judge Michael Bateman, who was presiding as a "conflicts judge" in municipal court in Borough Hall, Bridge Avenue, Point Borough, agreed with James N. Butler Jr., Rogers' attorney, that the trial should be adjourned because Kenneth Martyn, the man Rogers allegedly harmed last December, is facing related charges in Superior Court, Toms River.

Rogers, 46, a former Borough Council president who lost her mayoral bid in 2010, is facing a simple assault charge for allegedly causing a minor injury to Martyn, 51, the father of her son, Bryan, 15, on Dec. 29 at Rogers' home on River Road, Point Borough, according to police.

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Rogers will definitely continue fighting the charge, Butler said in an interview after the hearing.

"I'm confident she's innocent, there's no question about that," Butler said.

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Rogers had been released on $1,000 bail, no 10 percent option, at the Borough Police Department on Bridge Avenue on the day she was  charged with one count of simple assault, said Captain Richard Larsen.

"My client was taken out of the home in handcuffs," Butler said. But, the next day, on Dec. 30, he said, there was a "companion matter" that led to charges filed against Martyn and then Rogers getting a restraining order against him.

On July 30, Martyn was indicted on one count of third degree criminal mischief for allegedly causing about $3,400 worth of damage to Rogers' home on Dec. 30, Al Della Fave, spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor's office, said on Wednesday afternoon. He said the indictment shows Martyn's address as Woodland Drive, Brick.

The charges stemming from Dec. 30 originated with a complaint signed in January by Rogers and not by Point Borough police charges, based on interviews with Della Fave and Larsen.

The allegation is that on Dec. 30, Martyn allegedly spread blood, cigarettes and ashes around Rogers' home, pulled a thermostat off a wall; destroyed a clock radio; damaged Rogers' master bedroom; closet shelving; clothing; drapery; lamps; phone; answering machine; paper files; a control box for a gas fireplace; towel bar; sheetrock; walls; car keys; cell phone; IPad and more, authorities said.

Butler told Bateman in court that he thought the indictment had not actually been presented yet, but that it would be forthcoming. That prompted Bateman to say that any such charges in Superior Court would, for now, supersede the municipal court matter.

Bateman even warned Martyn that anything he said in court on Wednesday could be used against him in a legal process stemming from an indictment.

Martyn said he had no idea there was any indictment to be handed up against him, but he said he would take the judge's advice to get a lawyer.

Bateman told Martyn that if he cannot afford a lawyer, the court can appoint one for him.

Bateman said he was "reluctantly" agreeing to adjourn the case. He noted that witnesses, including Bryan Rogers and Jim Martyn, Kenneth Martyn's brother, were in the courtroom ready to testify. Jim Martyn was sitting with Rogers, her son and a few other friends and family in the courtroom.

"But with this new information, about a possible indictment, we can't go forward today," Bateman said. After the charges against Martyn are resolved, the charge against Rogers will likely be addressed in the Borough Municipal Court, he said.

Martyn was escorted into the courtroom wearing jail garb. Bonnie R. Peterson, the conflicts municipal prosecutor, and Martyn, acknowledged that he is currently incarcerated in the county jail regarding an unrelated charge filed in Jackson.

UPDATE: Jackson police, in an email to Patch on Thursday morning, reported that police were called to the 21 South Bar and Grill at 10:45 p.m. Saturday because there was "an intoxicated and disorderly person" later identified as Martyn.

"It was reported that a male subject inside the bar was intoxicated and was loudly yelling obscenities and racial slurs. When he was told to leave by employees, he then reportedly began throwing and kicking bar stools.

"Officers encountered the subject who then began yelling obscenities at them. He was placed under arrest for disorderly conduct and, during the incident, refused to cooperate and get into the patrol car."

Martyn was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Bail was set at $7,500 and he was later lodged in the Ocean County Jail.

Regarding the Dec. 29 incident, Peterson said there is an allegation that "there was a ceramic dish" thrown at Martyn, but because the trial did not actually proceed, she did not fully elaborate as to whether that is the extent of the allegations against Rogers.

Peterson did not object to the adjournment.

In response to questions from Patch afterwards, Butler said Rogers and Martyn had never been married.

He said Bryan has been living with his mother before and after the incidents, other than a brief period on Dec. 30 when Martyn got custody just after Rogers was arrested. But after Martyn was charged, the restraining order obtained by Rogers led to her regaining custody, Butler said.

When Butler was asked how Bryan is doing, Butler said, "He's OK. He loves both of his parents. He's a really good kid."

Shortly after the Dec. 29 incident, Larsen, when asked, said a man who Rogers had allegedly harmed during a dispute called police at 11:26 a.m. Dec. 29.

When asked if the injury was minor, Larsen had said at the time, "Yes, it was minor as best we can determine. The charge was simple assault. If the injury had been serious, the charge would have been aggravated assault."

The victim declined medical treatment on Dec. 29, but the following morning called for medical attention, Larsen said. At 5:24 a.m. Dec. 30, the victim was transported by the Point Boro First Aid Squad from Rogers' home to Ocean Medical Center in Brick, Larsen said.

Rogers was charged by Special Police Officer Matthew Nickerson, who had responded to Rogers' home with Officer Loren MacIver, in MacIver's marked police vehicle, since MacIver is the field training officer supervising Nickerson, Larsen said.

Officer Robert Wells, the senior officer on duty that day, who supervised the investigation, and Officers Jeff Johnson and David Scalabrini also responded to the scene and assisted in what was "a thorough investigation," Larsen said. 

Scalabrini also responded to the house again later that day, at 5:46 p.m., as part of the ongoing investigation, Larsen said.

Rogers is employed as a Confidential Secretary in the state Department of Children and Families' Division on Women, she was hired on Oct. 12, 2010 and her current salary is $60,807.11, according to Kristine Brown, Director of Communications and Public Affairs, NJ Department of Children and Families. 

DCF is the primary funding source and oversight agency for 24 domestic violence programs and liaison with the New Jersey Coalition of Battered Women, according to the department’s website.

Rogers, who lost to William Schroeder in her mayoral bid, had been vice chairperson of the Republican County Committee of Point Pleasant at the time she was charged.

It is customary for a conflicts judge and prosecutor to be called on for cases involving any high-profile municipal officials, former officials or any other defendants who would have a conflict of interest with the regular municipal court staff.


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