What to KnowAtlantic Metropolis Mayor Marty Small Sr. on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, pleaded not responsible in an Atlantic County courtroom to an allegation of witness tampering for asking his daughter to lie about how she sustained a head damage. The Democratic mayor and his spouse, La’Quetta, had been beforehand charged with assault and abuse. Prosecutors say Marty Small “asked his daughter to do him a favor and ‘twist up’ the story she had previously told police about alleged abuse allegations she made against him specifically by asking her to state that she tripped and fell in her room when her head was injured.”“Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small entered his plea of not guilty this morning because he is completely innocent of the accusations against him,” Small’s lawyer stated. “A father who explains to his child the value of being truthful is only ‘guilty’ of good parenting, not witness tampering.”
Atlantic Metropolis Mayor Marty Small Sr. says he isn’t responsible of witness tampering by asking his daughter to lie about alleged abuse by the hands of Small and his spouse, however is “guilty” of being a very good guardian.
The assertion from Atlantic Metropolis’s mayor got here by an lawyer as he pleaded not responsible to witness tampering involving Small and his spouse’s baby abuse case on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025.
“Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small entered his plea of not guilty this morning because he is completely innocent of the accusations against him,” lawyer Jordan Barbone, of Atlantic Metropolis’s Jacobs & Barbone legislation agency, stated. “A father who explains to his child the value of being truthful is only ‘guilty’ of good parenting, not witness tampering.”
Thursday’s listening to was temporary as Small and his spouse, La’Quetta, had been flanked by attorneys.
Earlier than the listening to, Small walked alone as he entered the Atlantic County courthouse on a brisk, shiny morning.
“It’s a great day in the city of Atlantic City,” Small advised NBC10’s Siobhan McGirl.
Whereas strolling into courtroom, Small principally solely supplied “no comment” to McGirl’s a number of questions on his response to the allegations in opposition to him.
“You all ask me the same questions every time,” Small quipped.
Atlantic Metropolis’s Democratic mayor is accused of abusing his teenage daughter and asking her to lie about how she sustained a head damage.
Small, 50, was indicted in December 2024 with third-degree witness tampering involving the woman, whom he and his spouse — the New Jersey seaside playing resort metropolis’s superintendent of faculties — had been beforehand charged with assaulting and abusing.
In October 2024, the Smalls pleaded not responsible to the abuse fees.
After Thursday’s listening to, La’Quetta Small did not reply to a reporter’s query about if she would resign her faculty put up.
Allegation of witness tampering in opposition to Atlantic Metropolis Mayor Marty Small.
The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Workplace stated Marty Small requested his daughter to “twist up” a press release she had given to investigators relating to his alleged abuse of her final winter.
“It is alleged that during the month of September 2024, while criminal charges against him were pending for abusing his juvenile daughter, J.S., the defendant asked his daughter to do him a favor and ‘twist up’ the story she had previously told police about alleged abuse allegations she made against him specifically by asking her to state that she tripped and fell in her room when her head was injured,” prosecutors wrote.
“This was in reference to an alleged incident on January 13, 2024, when Marty Small, Sr. is alleged to have hit his daughter multiple times in the head with a broom causing her to lose consciousness,” prosecutors added.
A grand jury returned the indictment for the third-degree witness tampering cost after the allegation beforehand got here to gentle in November.
Prosecutors allege that Small requested his daughter to contradict her earlier declare of being abused whereas realizing he was about to be indicted on the unique baby abuse cost. The alleged request was made two days earlier than a grand jury indicted Marty and La’Quetta Small.
Prosecutors stated each mother and father hit and emotionally abused the woman, who was 15 to 16 years outdated, on events final winter.
Prosecutors stated that on Jan. 13, 2024, Marty Small hit his daughter a number of occasions within the head with a brush, inflicting her to lose consciousness. Ten days earlier, they stated, Small argued along with his daughter, grabbing her head, throwing her to the bottom and threatening to throw her down the steps. The mayor is also accused of punching his daughter within the legs, inflicting bruising.
La’Quetta Small is accused of punching her daughter a number of occasions on the chest, leaving bruising. She can be accused of dragging her daughter by the hair and putting her with a belt on her shoulders, leaving marks.
