D.A. Clears Martha

The mother of the young landscaper involved in a May 21 confrontation with Martha Stewart and the East Hampton Village Chief of Police both expressed surprise and displeasure this week following Suffolk County District Attorney James M. Catterson Jr.'s announcement that no criminal charges would be filed against Ms. Stewart.

Matthew Munnich had told police the homemaking authority backed her car into him that night, pinning him against a gate and bruising him after finding him and his crew working on Harry Macklowe's next-door property. Ms. Stewart and Mr. Macklowe, Georgica Close Road neighbors, have long been at odds over plantings on their common border.

"I'm very unhappy with the decision," said Addie Munnich of Port Jefferson Station, the mother of the 23-year-old Mr. Munnich. "I just feel let down by the law." She said her family had hired a new attorney, Leonard Austin of Huntington Station, and was trying to decide what to do next.

Charges Were Readied

Following the incident, village police had got so far into their investigation as to type up charges of second-degree reckless endangerment and attempted assault in the third degree.

They passed the case along to the D.A.'s East End Bureau, according to Chief Stonemetz, simply to let the attorneys look the case over, but it wound up in Mr. Catterson's personal office, with his top investigator assigned to it.

It took nine and a half weeks for the District Attorney to announce his decision. Chief Stonemetz several times criticized what he called an unusual delay.

D.A.'s Statement

"Justice and common sense dictate that the confrontation between Ms. Stewart and Munnich, as objectionable as it may appear, does not warrant arrest and criminal prosecution," Mr. Catterson said in a written statement. "Not every event which adversely affects a person's life deserves to be litigated in criminal court."

To the contrary, Chief Stonemetz said this week, he thought there was indeed probable cause to file charges. He described his reaction to the D.A.'s decision as "one of shock and, quite candidly, probably disbelief."

Ms. Stewart said she was "pleased to have been exonerated in this case."

"It is unfortunate that accusations like this take the D.A. away from much more pressing duties and are a terrible waste of taxpayer time, money, and energy," she said in her own written statement.

"We have maintained all along that Martha Stewart has done nothing illegal," her Manhattan attorney, Larry Shire, said in the same release. "Ms. Stewart at no time intended any harm to Matthew Munnich."

Three Witnesses

This week, village police made available witnesses' statements and other information gathered during their investigation, which help paint a more complete picture.

John Ward Pawson of London, who was doing design work for Ms. Stewart, and his assistant, Enzo Manola of Italy, "arrived in East Hampton via the Hampton Jitney," Mr. Pawson stated, and were "met at the bus stop by Martha Stewart. We then went to dinner at the Palm restaurant," steps away from the Jitney stop.

"At dinner were Martha, Enzo, Ben Krupinski, his wife [Bonnie], two other couples, and myself. During dinner I did not drink any alcohol nor did Enzo. I'm not sure if Martha did, I think not. Dinner ended at approximately 9 p.m." According to a receipt in the police file, the dinner tab and tip came to $767.61.

"Seemed Depressed"

"Martha, Enzo, and I decided to go to her house on Georgica Close Road to observe the beautiful moonlight," Mr. Pawson goes on. "Martha drove us in her car, a large, dark colored truck. When we arrived at the house . . . the three of us walked down to the water."

"When we got there, Martha observed that a fence had been erected by her neighbor, Harry Macklowe. Martha became upset and seemed depressed about the situation. We heard people working on the other side of the fence. We walked back to the road and Enzo and I walked over to Mr. Macklowe's driveway, stopping before the gate."

Ms. Stewart drove into Mr. Macklowe's driveway, the statement says. "I heard Martha asking the workers as they were walking by what they were doing. I observed the workers ignoring Martha's inquiries."

Denies Incident

"Finally, one man [Mr. Munnich] did stop at the driver's window and speak with her. I couldn't hear the conversation, but I did hear the man say to Martha, "Are you calling me a liar?" Martha then reversed out of the driveway, she reversed straight out. People still had room to pass her vehicle on both sides."

"Once Martha reversed out, she then pulled forward heading toward her driveway. Enzo and I then got into her vehicle. I got in the front and Enzo got in the back behind Martha."

"[Sgt. Gerard] Larsen has asked me if I saw the young man get struck by Martha's vehicle and my answer is no. I would have seen this happen if it happened. Sergeant Larsen has also asked me if I saw Martha's [car] mirror hit the electronic security control box and my answer is no. I would have seen or heard if she hit anything."

Mr. Pawson said the trio then returned to Ms. Stewart's Lily Pond Lane, East Hampton, house.

"Stop The Car"

Mr. Munnich, a foreman trainee with Whitmore Worsley Landscaping in Amagansett, had accused Ms. Stewart of pinning him with her car against the electronic security box.

"I was trapped against the electronic box, the sideview mirror on the driver's side door, and the driver's door," he said in his complaint, filed the day after the incident. "I started to yell, 'You're fucking crushing me, stop the car, let me out.' She looked right at me and kept backing."

Mr. Munnich said his right side was black and blue, and that he was still in "discomfort."

Mr. Manola, an architect who works in London for Mr. Pawson, said he saw Ms. Stewart pull into the driveway and then later back out. He did not say whether or not he saw her vehicle hit anyone.

Another Whitmore Worsley em ployee who was working at the Macklowe property the night of the incident, Agustin Centeno, also gave village police a statement.

Photographs

He identified himself as having "worked for [Whitmore Worsley] for the last four years. I can read and write the English language a little."

"I was standing next to the gate on the left as you leave the driveway," Mr. Centeno told police. "I saw the car start to back out. I saw the car wheels turn and the front of the car went to my right. I then heard Matt yelling . . . I asked Matt what had happened and he told me the lady ran him over. He told me that the lady had trapped him between her car and the gate box . . . Matt seemed very upset and was complaining of pain in both his sides."

Photographs in the police file show minor bruising and markings on Mr. Munnich's side.

Confrontation

In releasing his decision Friday, the District Attorney acknowledged that "a confrontation occurred."

"It is beyond doubt that the incident was initiated by Ms. Stewart," said Mr. Catterson, "in the mistaken belief that Mr. Munnich was responsible for the erection of a fence . . . Although the possibility of injury was present, such injury thankfully was averted and Mr. Munnich was not seriously hurt."

The D.A.'s statement describes, at some length, the continuing litigation over Mr. Macklowe's and Ms. Stewart's multimillion-dollar properties, noting that all of it has been initiated by Mr. Macklowe.

It also states that his decision not to prosecute is "in no way intended to minimize or disparage Mr. Munnich or his recollection of the events."

"He is free to institute a criminal charge of harassment," Mr. Catterson states, although "under all the facts and circumstances presently known a successful prosecution of such a charge is extremely unlikely."

The Chief Objects

Chief Stonemetz called Mr. Catterson's finding "one bad decision."

"I may be more inclined to file the criminal charges" before turning over a file for the D.A.'s review in the future, he said.

In reaction to Mr. Catterson's statement that "celebrity status alone cannot be considered a relevant factor in deciding whether or not to prosecute in a particular case," Chief Stonemetz said his investigation "did not focus on the peripheral activities or politics . . . and did not consider who the . . . alleged perpetrator was."

"Our investigation reveals that this was much more than harassment," he added.

Mr. Austin, the Munnich family's lawyer, said yesterday he thought Mr. Catterson's statement, rather than explaining why he was not pressing charges, "outlined his opening statement to the jury." The lawyer said the family was contemplating filing a civil suit against Ms. Stewart.