John Towey, 63, of Nutley, entered the plea through his attorney when he was arraigned on the charges before Superior Court Judge Peter Ryan
NEWARK -- A retired Belleville police officer pleaded not guilty on Friday to attempted murder and related charges for allegedly shooting his brother at the former cop's Nutley home last February.
John Towey, 63, entered the plea through his attorney when he was arraigned on the charges before Superior Court Judge Peter Ryan in connection with the Feb. 28 shooting.
Given the "quite voluminous" discovery in the case, which includes several thousand pages, Towey's attorney, Anthony Iacullo, requested additional time to file any pre-trial motions. The judge told him to file any motions within 60 days.
Towey is scheduled to return to court on Nov. 30.
Outside the courtroom after Friday's hearing, Iacullo said Towey never intended to harm his brother.
"Our position is that anything that happened...on that night was not intended and John would never do anything intentionally to hurt his brother," Iacullo said.
MORE: Retired Belleville cop indicted in attempted murder of his brother
In addition to attempted murder, Towey was indicted on Aug. 25 on charges of aggravated assault, endangering an injured victim, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.
According to the indictment, John Towey was using a .38-caliber handgun when he allegedly tried to kill his brother, Bernard Towey.
John Towey also allegedly "left the scene of the injury knowing or reasonably believing that the injured person was physically helpless, mentally incapacitated, or otherwise unable to care for himself," according to the indictment.
Authorities have said Towey's brother had been staying at Towey's house for a few days when the shooting occurred. During the incident, one bullet pierced the brother's spine, authorities said.
Towey was arrested on Feb. 28 and ultimately brought to the Essex County Correctional Facility. He was released from custody on March 3 after posting $75,000 bail.
Towey retired from the Belleville police force in 2009, public records show.
Bill Wichert may be reached at bwichert@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillWichertNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.