[VT] Vermont State Trooper Timothy Newton accused of punching fiancee in the face in front of 4 year old girl

Vermont State Trooper Timothy Newton has pleaded not guilty to charges arising from an off-duty incident in which he is accused of punching a Bennington Police Department dispatcher in the nose after a Super Bowl party... According to the affidavit, the woman’s nose was swollen, disfigured, and bleeding... According to the affidavit, the child said Newton and her mother were arguing, and that Newton said he would hit her mother because he was locked out of the house. Somehow he got inside and came into the bedroom where the child and her mother were and punched the mother in the face, making her nose bleed, the affidavit said. The child said her mother then told Newton she hated him while Newton apologized to them both...

TROOPER CHARGED WITH DOMESTIC ASSAULT

The Bennington Banner

Keith Whitcomb Jr.

February 16, 2011

BENNINGTON -- Vermont State Trooper Timothy Newton, 32, of Tudor Road, Sandgate, was charged Wednesday in Bennington Superior Court Criminal Division with misdemeanor domestic assault.

After Newton pleaded not guilty, Judge David Howard released him without bail on the condition he not have abusive contact with his alleged victim, not possess firearms and appear for future court hearings.

Newton is assigned to the barracks in Shaftsbury and was off-duty at the time of the alleged incident. State police officials have said Newton is currently on paid administrative leave.

The trooper is represented by attorney Stephen L. Saltonstall of Manchester, who said his client has a clean record, had been with the state police for seven years and had been with the Military Police for six years prior to that.

Saltonstall told the Banner that he and his client have no comment at this time.

The prosecution’s case is weak, Saltonstall said, adding that the elements for the charge were provided by statements from a 4-year-old witness and are unreliable. He said the woman Newton is accused of assaulting maintains that no assault took place and wishes to have contact with Newton.

Ellen Karyger, a deputy attorney with the Windham County State’s Attorney’s Office, represented the state for the arraignment. Karyger was deputized by Bennington County State’s Attorney Erica Marthage for the purposes of the arraignment. She indicated to Howard that Marthage will file a motion to have the case transferred to the Windham court within the next 10 days.

Marthage had filed that motion initially, but retracted it. Saltonstall indicated he’d opposed the motion the first time and may do so again.

The Windham and Bennington courts typically use each other in cases where there are professional conflicts, Marthage said.

According to an affidavit by Detective Sgt. Richard Holden of the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, on Feb. 8 he was called to the Shaftsbury barracks to be briefed on a case involving an incident between Newton and a woman on Feb. 6.

Holden said he learned from recording equipment and reports by troopers who responded that Newton was at a Super Bowl party with the woman and the two got into an argument, then decided to leave in a vehicle. On the way back, Newton stopped the vehicle and got out, saying he would walk. The woman then drove off in the vehicle.

At 11 p.m., a Bennington Police Officer Thomas Bull saw Newton walking in North Bennington and contacted state police. Trooper Robert Zink showed up and drove Newton home.

Shortly before midnight, dispatchers received a 911 hang-up call from Newton’s home, and no one picked up when the number was called back. Zink and Trooper Travis Hess were sent to the home, then dispatch made contact with Newton, asking if anything was wrong. According to the affidavit, Newton responded, "I don’t know; you’d better ask her."

The woman spoke with dispatch, said everything was fine, and said that a child had dialed 911 by accident. The call then ended.

Zink spoke with Newton, who said the woman was "flipping out" and throwing him out of the home. The woman had been in the bathroom and came out with a towel on her face saying she’d bumped her nose.

According to the affidavit, Zink noted the woman’s nose was swollen, disfigured, and bleeding. She also appeared intoxicated. There was blood on the floor between the bedroom and carpet, and a large amount of blood on the bed sheets themselves. Zink reported not seeing blood anywhere outside or on the porch.

The woman told Zink she’d fallen and hit her nose while out in the driveway after she and Newton returned from the party. Zink told her it was he who’d driven Newton home, and at that point the woman began to cry and shake before repeating that she’d fallen. Zink said he then asked permission to speak to her child, but the woman refused, saying she’d just put the child to sleep. Zink then told her he’d seen the child with her in the bathroom and she appeared to be awake.

Holden said he and another detective interviewed Newton on Feb. 8, and Newton declined to speak with them.

That same day, Detective Sgt. Tara Thomas and Detective Trooper Aimee Nolan interviewed the alleged victim, who said she was outside smoking a cigarette when she slipped, fell, and hit her nose. She called 911 because of the blood, but didn’t follow through because she felt embarrassed.

On Feb. 11, Holden spoke with the father of the woman’s child, who said the child had told him she saw Newton punch her mother in the face. The father told Holden the child doesn’t understand the 911 system, or phones, and that the mother had also asked him not to allow the child to be interviewed.

On Feb. 14, the child was spoken to by Nolan. According to the affidavit, the child said Newton and her mother were arguing, and that Newton said he would hit her mother because he was locked out of the house. Somehow he got inside and came into the bedroom where the child and her mother were and punched the mother in the face, making her nose bleed, the affidavit said. The child said her mother then told Newton she hated him while Newton apologized to them both.

Newton was arrested at his home at 9 p.m. without incident.

At the arraignment, Karyger requested a no contact order between Newton, the woman and her child, as is typical in similar cases. Howard said that while it’s common, it’s not automatic and this appears to be a case where contact can be allowed. He did, however, order that Newton not discuss the incident with the child.

TROOPER PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO DOMESTIC ASSAULT CHARGE

Burlington Free Press

By Mike Donoghue

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Vermont State Trooper Timothy Newton has pleaded not guilty to charges arising from an off-duty incident in which he is accused of punching a Bennington Police Department dispatcher in the nose after a Super Bowl party.

Judge David Howard released Newton, 32, of Sandgate on conditions, including he not harass the victim, Ashley Audy, his live-in fiancee. Newton also was ordered not to discuss the incident with Audy’s young daughter, whom state police say witnessed the assault.

Newton refused to speak to criminal investigators who were called in from Rockingham to take over the case a day after the incident. He was charged with misdemeanor domestic assault and faces up to 18 months in prison if convicted.

Audy, who hired a lawyer, provided several inconsistent statements during the investigation, court documents say. Newton and Audy had been at a gathering at the home of a Bennington police officer, but an argument ensured and they left for home, police said. Newton later got out of the car and said he would walk home, and Audy drove off, police said.

State police later reported receiving a 911 hang-up call from Newton’s home, and troopers were dispatched when nobody answered a return call. Audy initially told police she had fallen in the driveway of their home, and her young daughter had accidentally dialed 911, state police Detective Richard Holden wrote in court papers.

Responding troopers found Audy with a towel over her face and a large amount of blood in the master bedroom and bathroom, Holden wrote. There was no trace of blood in the driveway, porch or hallway inside the door, he wrote. Police said Audy’s nose appeared broken.

She told Trooper Robert Zink that she and Newton had arrived home from the party just before she fell. Holden said Zink knew that was untrue because he had given Newton a ride home after he was seen walking on Benmont Avenue at about 11 p.m.

Audy also asked police not to interview her daughter, but her ex-husband later gave permission. The girl told detectives that Newton while locked outside the house threaten to hit her mother and later saw him come into the bedroom and punch her, Holden said. 

Contact Mike Donoghue at 660-1845 or mdonoghue@burlingtonfreepress.com.

[police officer involved domestic violence oidv intimate partner violence (IPV) abuse law enforcement public safety vermont state politics recant non-cooperative]