Jurors in the trial of Atlantic City's mayor heard were given two very different views of what happened inside the Small family home on Presbyterian Avenue.

Marty Small is accused of beating his daughter unconscious with a broom, threatening to "earth slam" her down the stairs and then trying to get her to "twist up" the story after he was criminally charged.

"Violence is never a solution," Assistant Prosecutor Elizabeth Fischer told the jurors in her opening Monday afternoon. "Abuse is not parenting."

But there was not abuse, defense attorney Lou Barbone insisted.

Marty Small was a father trying to protect his daughter who had been his best friend for the first 15 years of her life, the attorney told the jurors.

He told of how she went from a loving child and straight A student, to one who stopped going to school and stayed in her room talking to her boyfriend, who she snuck into her bedroom to have sex.

Rather than the soft-spoken girl who will bravely take the stand that Fischer talked about, Barbone showed video of a screeching teen striking out at her father as he took her cell phone May 1, 2024, months after the allegations had been made.

He noted that reasonable corporal punishment is allowed in New Jersey, although he agreed beating a child unconscious does not fall under that.

But that never happened, Barbone insisted.

The fight that day started with the family heading to a peace walk in the city, with the girl refusing, he said.

She threw detergent at her father, who later went into her room where she had a knife, and grabbed the broom to attack him, according to Barbone.

The girl wound up slipping and falling. That was the head injury, Barbone claims

Fischer had a different take, saying Small has given conflicting scenarios about what happened that day.

She also noted that the family did not seek treatment for the teen until three days later, when someone from school said she was having headaches and they should have her checked.

The couple took her to the hospital, but never left her side, Fischer said video from that day will show. As a result, she was never given a chance to tell what really happened.

Secretly, however, the girl and her boyfriend were collecting evidence: taking photos of her injuries and capturing audio recordings of the alleged attacks.

The girl did not think people would believe her because of her father's power as mayor, Fischer said.

Barbone countered that this is not about Small's position as a politician but as a father.

"He would give up in a moment his elected office to have his daughter back," the attorney said of Small.

The state's first witness is guidance counselor Jonathan Rivera, who was the first to speak to the teen, after she asked for help in a card all students had to fill out following a mental health presentation.

He previously testified to the same thing during pretrial motions Friday, when it was unclear whether his full story would be allowed. 

That testimony is ongoing Monday afternoon, with direct following what reported by BreakingAC at that time. 

The morning started with questions about what the jurors can hear regarding a new incident in which the now-17-year-old girl allegedly pulled a knife on her boyfriend. 

The defense argues that this backs the mayor's claims that his daughter was the aggressor.

Atlantic County Prosecutor William Reynolds — who stood up from his spot in the audience during the proceeding — insisted to the judge they there is no criminal investigation in that case, and that the girl already was cleared by Atlantic City police.

"There was no evidence of physical injury," he said.

The issue stems from an incident last week between the mayor's daughter and her boyfriend — star witnesses in the cases against the Smalls — during which the boyfriend accused the girl of cutting him when she threw a knife.

Judge Joseph Levin said that the fact there is a pending investigation against the girl — identified as J.S. — can be referenced during the defense's opening.

Reynolds said that his office did the proper thing by notifying the defense and the Attorney General's Office, since there is a conflict with the office due to J.S.'s part as a victim and witness in the ongoing case. 

There were no charges because "the Prosecutor's Office literally took (J.S.) away from the scene," defense attorney Lou Barbone said. 

The defense is expected to argue that the incident is proof of the girl's aggression and that the discipline her father gave was warranted.

It also was raised for the first time that the mayor claims his daughter pulled a knife on him, which sparked the broom incident.

The judge told the prosecutor that his office did do the right thing by making immediate notifications and even providing video from the Dec. 2 call.

However, Levin said that the Attorney General's Office has not yet investigated to confirm that there will be no charges, and questioned what would happen if he did not allow the information in at all only for the girl to later be charged.

The morning motions picked up where things left off Friday, when the legal complexities of the case were underscored. 

The state also scored a win with the judge allowing three incidents involving Dr. La'Quetta Small can be heard as part of the child endangerment allegations against the mayor.

In one audio recording, the mayor is allegedly heard in one of the audio recordings yelling from downstairs of the home for the girl to "shut up" as she screamed about her mother physically attacking her upstairs.

The judge said he was allowing those incidents, after re-reading the "very thorough" decision by now-retired Superior Court Judge Bernard DeLury to sever the couple's cases.

That decision was made based upon the separate witness tampering charge filed only against Mayor Small, so as not to have it reflect upon Dr. Small.

Monday morning's discussions also seemed to delay when J.S. will be called to testify. 

Assistant Prosecutor Chris D'Esposito said the plan was to call her after opening Monday, but the decision involving the allegations against her mean she is now not expected to be called until Tuesday.

Cell phones are fully banned from the courtroom, including for the mayor who originally was allowed to keep his and use it to take notes.

Witnesses for both sides are banned from the courtroom until closings.

Dr. Small is in attendance, along with suspended Atlantic City High School Principal Constance Days-Chapman, who is accused of failing to report the abuse allegations, also has attended. Her trial is the third scheduled.

TEN THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE THE TRIAL