William Reynolds, center, names Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson, left, and Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small in a tort claim notice of intent to file suit.
The battle between the Atlantic County prosecutor and two major political leaders has reached new heights.
County Prosecutor William Reynolds has filed a tort claim notice to both Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small and Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson claiming they and others have conspired to ruin his reputation and interfere with his duties as prosecutor.
“What a punk. This is unreal and an absolute joke,” the mayor wrote in a statement released Thursday afternoon. “The prosecutor is the definition of, if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. He’s been dealing with criticism for 90 days, meanwhile — through him — we were paraded all over the country for two years for false allegations.
“The difference is, we kept our head high and came to work each and every day for the good people of Atlantic City and walked around here like nothing was going on, fighting through it,” Small continued.
He then took a jab at the prosecutor’s attorneys, saying that Ed Jacobs — Small’s longtime attorney — called the filing “the worst legal document he has ever seen” in his 50 years of practicing law.
“And in that alone (Reynolds) should be removed as prosecutor,” Small said.
“The prosecutor is basically saying all these things — pain and suffering, damages — that seems as someone who is unfit for the job. You can tell the prosecutor is hot and bothered by this ordeal, because all he has been doing since my acquittal is writing puff pieces about what the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office has done,” his statement continues. "I look forward to the days when he goes back to being a fifth-rate municipal court lawyer.”
George Bochetto, one of the attorneys representing Reynolds, said he would let the tort claim notice speak for itself.
“We’re certainly not going to get into a name-calling contest,” Bochetto told BreakingAC. “We’re not going to engage ... It’s unfortunate that an elected official would stoop to this.
“We stand by the integrity of the allegations set forth in the tort claim notice, and we are standing up for what is the constitutional authority of this duly appointed county prosecutor.”
The latest chapter comes two weeks after Small, along with his wife and former campaign manager sent their own tort warning of a lawsuit alleging malicious prosecution.
The mayor, along with Schools Superintendent Dr. La’Quetta Small and Atlantic City High School Principal Dr. Constance Days-Chapman claim they faced criminal charges in connection with allegations that the Smalls abused their teenage daughter not to protect the girl, but for Reynolds to gain political advantage.
For his part, Levinson told BreakingAC he holds no ill will toward Reynolds, and does not know how things got to this point.
Levinson spoke on multiple local radio shows about the issues with the cases, including the cost to the taxpayers that he said was exacerbated by the prosecutor not immediately dropping the cases against Drs. Small and Day-Chapman following the mayor’s acquittal at trial.
"All I said was after the Marty Small debacle in court, I made a public comment that I seriously suggested — and only suggested — that the prosecutor should reconsider the case against La'Quetta Small, and drop the case," he said. "It was only a suggestion, and he eventually did exactly what I suggested.
In fact, Levinson and Reynolds already have been to civil court, after Reynolds filed a complaint moving for an injunction "to restrain unlawful interference by the Atlantic County Executive in the exercise of prosecutorial discretion."
Levinson “made repeated false, defamatory and malicious public statements,” the tort notice reads.
That included accusing Reynolds of violating his constitutional and ethical duties, criticizing his prosecutorial decisions and urging dismissal of the pending prosecutions that remained against Drs. Small and Days-Chapman.
“The conspirators were also communicating with individuals closely connected to the defense team representing Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small in the related criminal proceedings,” Reynolds' complaint says.
Several people are named in the claim, including the county counsel and assistant counsel, N. Lynne Hughes and Arthur Murray, along with county Administrator Gerry DelRosso, members of Atlantic City Council, and the city Board of Education as a whole.
“Truly everyone has wronged him,” Levinson said. “I don’t get it. I’m sure that eventually he will reconsider and see how frivolous his (claim) is."
Levinson said he also does not understand how Reynolds was damaged, since he still holds his $208,000-a-year job with a raise due in June, and a term that does not end for more than a year.
He also noted that he had been supportive of the prosecutor, and would like to get that relationship back.
"I hold no grudges and I would love to get back on track," Levinson said. "But that’s entirely up to the prosecutor."
