Judge orders Morristown official to forfeit job over animal cruelty conviction

Morristown Chief Housing Inspector Tommy Alexander should be stripped of his $90,000 job, ruled a Rockaway Township judge who convicted him of animal cruelty charges on Thursday.

Tommy’s grown son wept as his father left the courtroom looking stunned and angry. “They just killed a man,” said another relative, referring to Tommy’s liver cancer. Another woman sobbed and lamented that the official’s 35-year career as a Morristown employee appeared to be over.

Municipal Judge Gerard Smith stayed the job forfeiture until Nov. 1, to permit Tommy’s lawyer, Gary Moylen, to prepare a challenge. The lawyer said he intends to appeal the case to state Superior Court. The charges were heard in Rockaway Township to avoid conflicts of interest in Morristown.

Calling it one of the toughest cases he’s ever tried, Judge Smith said he had no choice under state law but to impose forfeiture, because at the time Tommy neglected his unlicensed dog, Satin, last December, he was the head of Morristown’s Human Services Department. That department oversees animal control, and Tommy should have known better, the judge said.

It was the most severe case of animal neglect encountered by the town animal control officer in her four years on the job, she told the court. A veterinarian testified she had been “shocked” by the condition of the starved mixed-breed dog.

Incredulous, Gary Moylen said his client had acted as a private citizen. The judge cited 2C:51-2(a)(2) of the state criminal code, which states:

A person holding any public office, position, or employment, elective or appointive, under the government of this State or any agency or political subdivision thereof, who is convicted of an offense shall forfeit such office, position or employment if… he is convicted of an offense involving or touching such office, position or employment…

The judge found Tommy guilty of two counts of failing to provide sustenance, two counts of  failure to provide food and water, and failure to license Satin. Tommy could have gotten up to six months in prison; instead he was ordered to perform 60 days of community service for the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and assessed nearly $5,000 in fines, fees and restitution to a veterinarian and the SPCA. Charges filed separately by the town and the SPCA were merged.  Two of the SPCA charges were criminal complaints.

Tommy’s account was “far-fetched” and “less than credible,” said the judge, who sided with veterinarian Margaret Kearns , SPCA Lt. Jeff Hunker and Morristown Animal Control Officer Samantha Judson–who took the witness stand against her boss.

Samantha said Tommy called her shortly before Christmas, indicating he had found Satin running around near a dumpster on Flagler Street, where he had lived, and that he needed her help with the dog.

The pet should have weighed 35 pounds; it was 19 pounds, emaciated, hungry and dehydrated, and reeked of stale urine, according to testimony.  Its abnormally long, “dagger-like” claws suggested it had been confined for several weeks, and they would have made running impossible, the veterinarian testified.

Tommy told the court he had given away the dog weeks before, because he was moving from Flagler Street to a Court Street apartment that did not allow pets.

He said he gave the dog to a friendly, well dressed Newark man named Malik “Frankie” Rahim, who visited Flagler Street throughout the year to distribute flyers for the Nation of Islam.

Tommy and his son both testified that prior attempts to place the dog with local shelters had failed, because of paperwork issues and, Tommy said, because he came from Flagler Street, an African American community where he said gunfire is so common that he keeps a licensed weapon, and where he said he had been advised to move out by a concerned superior in town hall.

The judge did not buy the story about Frankie–“no one’s ever seen this guy Frankie”–and he was particularly incensed that for two days prior to calling the animal control officer, Tommy went looking for Frankie instead of taking the dog to a veterinarian, according to Tommy’s testimony.

“That was really the straw that broke the camel’s back,” said the judge, who described photos of the starving dog as “somewhat difficult to look at.”

Tommy insisted that he fed and watered the dog over that two-day period, but Margaret Kearns, who examined the dog when the animal control officer brought it to her, said Satin showed no signs of that.

Other parts of Tommy’s story also gave the judge pause.  Tommy testified that the dog was 11 or 12 years old; it was only 7.  He said he gave Satin’s bowl and food to Frankie, yet testified he still had Kibbles at the Flagler Street apartment, which he had not yet vacated while moving to Court Street.

Rockaway Township Municipal Prosecutor Peter King contended the dog had been cooped up in the Flagler Street apartment all along.

The animal control officer testified that Tommy asked her to keep the matter between them, and not to inform her supervisor. The SPCA officer testified that Tommy was “evasive” during his investigation. And no records of a dog license or rabies shots could be found.

During a daylong hearing last month, Tommy’s son, neighbors and even his lawyer’s brother, a longtime friend, testified about his good character and love for the dog.

Defense attorney Gary Moylen argued that Tommy did not have possession of the dog for the month when its health deteriorated, and that the state failed to prove otherwise.

The lawyer also noted the courtroom presence of Morristown Health Officer Darlene O’Connell, a pointed reference to Tommy’s testimony that bad blood between the two officials somehow was behind the cruelty charges. Darlene supervises the animal control officer–who testified that they had promptly referred the situation to Morristown town Administrator Michael Rogers.

Tommy’s story just had too many holes, asserted Prosecutor Peter King. Judge Smith concurred.

The judge said Tommy appeared to have many fine qualities and friends, based on his character witnesses. But state law regarding conduct of public officials gave no leeway regarding the job forfeiture. He compared it to cases where he has had to strip teachers of their teaching licenses for shoplifting convictions.

The bombshell ruling came on the heels of another piece of bad news for Tommy. Earlier this month he lost his status as a department head in a town hall shakeup.

If there is any silver lining to this tragic case, it belongs to Satin. The dog has a new name, a new home, and new health, according to the veterinarian.

STAY TUNED FOR VIDEO FROM THE COURTROOM