A jury concluded deliberations today without reaching a verdict on whether a former Old Bridge wrestling coach attacked a student athlete during a recreational meet two years ago.
The jury is expected to resume discussions Wednesday to determine if Phillip Sandford meant to hurt Patrick Ronan of Sayreville, who was then 16 years old, when he flew across the mat and grabbed the boy who was wrestling Sandford's 14-year-old son on July 24, 2007.
Lawrence Bitterman, Sandford's attorney, told the jury in New Brunswick this morning that Sandford had no intention of hurting Ronan, only stopping him after he saw Ronan punch his son in the face during the match.
"If his desire was to hurt him (Ronan), he could have done that," Bitterman said in his closing remarks.
Sandford ran out because he "wanted to get his son out of there," before Ronan could punch him again, Bitterman said.
Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Weiss disagreed, saying the referee blew the whistle after seeing Ronan punch Sandford's son. The two wrestlers separated, with Ronan getting up to walk away, when Sandford sprinted onto the mat, Weiss said.
"The wrestlers stopped but Phillip Sandford didn't," Weiss said. "They got it. He didn't. We can't have a society where any parent who doesn't like what happened to his kid on a field can go and assault the other kid."
The key evidence in the case is a videotape made of the match at Old Bridge High School by someone on the Sayreville team who ultimately turned it over to police several days after the meet.
The tape shows the meet between Ronan and Sandford's son. It showed Ronan stepping away from Sandford's son and turning toward the middle of the mat when the elder Sandford came running in and hit Ronan.
The jury asked to see the video several times this afternoon.
The panel deliberated for about three hours before Superior Court Judge Joseph Rea sent them home for the evening with instructions to return this morning to resume their work.
Sandford is charged under a relatively new law that elevates a simple assault, normally a disorderly persons offense, to aggravated assault, an indictable offense, if it occurs at a community or sporting event attended by children younger than 16.
Here's the run-in in question...the WWE jokes are too easy at this point...
| Clip of alleged attack at an Old Bridge wrestling match |
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