Not Your Ordinary Day In Justice Court

The parking lot and hallways of East Hampton Town Hall were full of news reporters and television cameras last Thursday. A normal session of East Hampton Town Justice Court rarely attracts much attention, but this was not an ordinary day: Alexis Stewart, the daughter of the author and television personality Martha Stewart, was in court to speak against an ex-boyfriend.

Ms. Stewart, a resident of East Hampton, had accused Seamus R. Mahoney of assaulting her on Dec. 26, at the East Hampton Gym on Fithian Lane, which she owns. Mr. Mahoney, 38, a law school graduate, is a resident of St. Paul, Minn.

Based on Ms. Stewart's complaint, village police charged Mr. Mahoney with second-degree harassment, a violation. Ms. Stewart was not happy with that.

D.A. Didn't Agree

She attempted last Thursday to press more serious misdemeanor charges of assault, menacing, criminal mischief, and criminal trespass. The Suffolk District Attorney's of fice, however, refused to go along.

Sean Conroy, an assistant district attorney, told Town Justice Roger W. Walker he would not prosecute the additional charges.

Justice Walker listened to John R. Cuti, Ms. Stewart's Manhattan attorney, argue that Ms. Stewart, who also owns the Bridgehampton Motel, had a right to pursue the charges privately, without the D.A.'s involvement. When the lawyer finished speaking Justice Walker told him he had no standing in the court and asked him to sit down.

Mr. Cuti said afterward that there was "a long history" in New York State law that allows private citizens to prosecute criminal charges. Ms. Stewart is said to be considering an appeal.

Community Service

As for the harassment charge, all parties but Ms. Stewart agreed Mr. Mahoney should settle it by performing 28 hours of community service. Justice Walker also granted a six-month adjournment in contemplation of dismissal, meaning that if Mr. Mahoney stays out of trouble for the next six months, his record will be clean.

An order of protection against him will continue during the six-month period.

Ms. Stewart told the court she "strongly object[ed]" to the plea bargain, and later told reporters she was "disappointed, upset, disgusted" with the way the matter had been handled.

A violation-level charge was "too lenient," she insisted.

The Star does not normally report violations but made an exception in this case because of the unusual me dia attention.

Outside The Gym

In statements filed with the court, Ms. Stewart claims Mr. Mahoney screamed curses at her and placed her "in fear of imminent physical injury" inside the gym. She escorted him outside, where he struck her "on the right side of her face with his hand, causing lacerations to the inside of her mouth, swelling, bruising, and sharp and substantial pain that lasted for five days."

Then, Ms. Stewart claims, he went to her house on Georgica Road, entered the property without permission, and "intentionally defaced and damaged property by smearing shampoo, shaving cream, toothpaste, and other items" on the sides and roof of the house, and on its porch, door, and walkway.

"After defacing the home, [he] littered the lawn with debris," she said, arguing that the alleged incident constituted crim inal mischief and trespass.

Village police said Ms. Stewart had not reported anything amiss on Georgica Road to them.

Harassment

Police said Ms. Stewart was told after the incident in the gym that it constituted harassment and not assault, as she insists it was. Police said swelling and bruising were the extent of her injuries, which does not constitute "physical injury" from an assault under state law.

She did not immediately press charges, but returned to headquarters the following day and filed a civilian complaint.

Mr. Mahoney was notified, police said, and returned to East Hampton to be served with a criminal summons and arraigned. His Hauppauge attorney, Kevin Fox, said he initially entered a not-guilty plea and was willing to go to trial, but later decided to accept the plea bargain offered by the District Attorney.

Assault Defined

Ms. Stewart and her attorney criticized Christopher Williams, the executive assistant D.A., for saying in a TV interview that "bruising is not enough" to pursue assault charges. Mr. Williams also said there was no evidence to prove Ms. Stewart suffered lacerations on the inside of her mouth.

A charge of second-degree harassment may be brought when someone "strikes, shoves, kicks, or otherwise subjects [another] person to physical contact, or attempts or threatens to do the same."

Third-degree assault, the charge Ms. Stewart was hoping for, is defined in part as causing "physical injury to another person." Physical injury is defined as "impairment of physical condition or substantial pain" and is commonly understood by law-enforcement agencies to mean, for example, a broken bone or injuries requiring stitches.

The day before she appear- ed in court, Ms. Stewart's attorn- ey filed a complaint against the D.A.'s office with the State Commission of Investigation, stating that the office had "ignored its duty to enforce the criminal laws and to take victim's rights seriously."

Mr. Cuti suggested the D.A.'s actions may have been a matter of "protecting a native son." Or, he said, "it could be insensitivity to domestic violence."

Mr. Mahoney spent much of his youth on the East End, where his mother still lives. He made the news here in September 1994, when he helped rescue swimmers caught in a dangerous sea puss off Georgica Beach.

Mr. Williams said the outcome of the case was fair. The D.A.'s office had not turned its back on domestic violence, he said, adding that the state had no "history of private prosecution of criminal charges." Mr. Cuti's charge of insensitivity, he said, was "grandstanding by a high-priced attorney with a celebrity client."