Monique Smith, 44, of Irvington, is facing aggravated assault, criminal mischief and weapons charges for allegedly trying to run down Newark Councilman John Sharpe James with her car in January 2015
NEWARK -- After dating Irvington Police Capt. Monique Smith for roughly two months, Newark Councilman John Sharpe James sent her an email on Jan. 5, 2015 that said he wanted to end their relationship, court documents state.
But the breakup allegedly did not go smoothly.
About five hours after he sent the email, James has claimed Smith confronted him outside his residence and started yelling at him, court documents state. James drove off, but Smith allegedly followed James and struck his vehicle with her car three times, court documents state.
The chase allegedly ended after James drove to his parents' residence, where his father, former Newark Mayor Sharpe James, intervened on his behalf, court documents state. After Smith spoke with the father, she returned to her vehicle and drove off, court documents state.
Now Smith, 44, of Irvington, is facing aggravated assault, criminal mischief and weapons charges in connection with the incident.
In the latest twist in the case, Superior Court Judge Michael L. Ravin has denied Smith's motion to dismiss her indictment.
In regard to the grand jury presentation, Ravin found "at least 'some evidence' was presented by the State to prove each element of the crimes charged," according to the judge's Jan. 11 written decision.
As part of the motion, Smith's attorney, Anthony Pope, acknowledged that she followed James, but he rejected prosecutors' claims that Smith's Honda Accord collided with James's Nissan Xterra, the decision states.
In a Dec. 28 brief sent to the judge, Pope indicated that allegation is refuted by a report that determined the paint chips found on Smith's vehicle do not match the paint found on James's car. The report "directly negates" James's testimony before the grand jury about the incident, the brief states.
That report, which was done by the New Jersey State Police's Office of Forensic Sciences, was not completed until after the grand jury handed down the indictment, the brief states. Since the report was not presented to grand jurors, Pope argued the indictment should be thrown out.
"Thus, by failing to obtain confirmation of the physical evidence - the State fatally impaired the judiciary function of the Grand Jury," Pope wrote in his brief.
Referring to James's testimony about Smith's car hitting his vehicle, the brief adds: "With no physical evidence of the cars ever coming into contact, a reasonable Grand Jury could have concluded that the veracity of the testimony is questionable and the alleged charges highly improbable if not entirely impossible."
But according to the judge's decision, the state has claimed the test results in the report are "problematic."
"The State argued that according to the lab technician, the results of the paint chip test could be a result of poor sample recovery or that the sample was not taken from the appropriate point of impact," the decision states.
Ravin pointed to that argument in upholding the indictment, saying the test results were not reliable. The judge also cited James's testimony as among the evidence presented to the grand jury to support the indictment.
John Sharpe JamesFile photo
In his testimony, James said he had been dating Smith for about two months, according to the judge's decision. Although Smith owned a home in Irvington, James said he had given her a key to his Newark apartment, the decision states.
After the couple had an argument on Jan. 2, 2015, James said he decided to break up with Smith, the decision states. When they slept in his apartment that night, James testified he slept on the couch, the decision states.
James said he left the apartment the following morning and did not return home until Jan. 5, the decision states. During that time period, James said Smith called him and sent him text messages, but he did not respond to her, the decision states.
On Jan. 5, James testified he knew Smith would be attending a ceremony at 5 p.m. for her promotion to police captain, the decision states.
James said he met his building superintendent at his residence at 4:45 p.m. for him to change the locks at James's apartment, the decision states. Around that time, James also said he gathered most of Smith's belongings from his apartment and placed them in a shed outside her Irvington house, the decision states.
Around 5 p.m., James testified he sent Smith the email, telling her that he wanted to end their relationship, the decision states. In the email, James also informed her about her belongings in the shed and told her to return his apartment key by putting it in his parents' mail slot, the decision states.
After sending the email, James said he received text messages from Smith, asking him where he was, and he responded by directing Smith to read her emails, the decision states. James said he then received emails, phone calls and text messages from Smith, as well as phone calls and text messages from her friends' phones, the decision states.
"The messages asked Mr. James to get together with Defendant, to communicate with her and to try to work things out," the decision states.
RELATED: Newark councilman no longer afraid of Irvington cop accused of trying to run him down
At about 10 p.m., James said he was sitting in his car outside his residence and talking to a neighbor when Smith showed up and began yelling at him, the decision states. As Smith then followed him, James said she struck his vehicle with her car three times, the decision states.
As they got out of their cars at his parents' house, where his father was waiting outside, James testified Smith said to him, "I love you, where are you going?," the decision states.
James said she tried to grab him before he went inside the house and ultimately called the police, the decision states. By the time the police showed up, James said Smith had already spoken with his father and drove off, the decision states.
Irvington Mayor Tony Vauss said on Monday that Smith remains suspended without pay as a result of the alleged altercation.
After the alleged incident, James received a temporary restraining order against Smith.
James dropped the temporary restraining order in February after he and Smith entered into a civil agreement that requires her to not contact him, according to James's attorney, Toni Belford Damiano.
Bill Wichert may be reached at bwichert@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillWichertNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.