Michael G. Rosenberg, 31, has pleaded not guilty to the disorderly persons offense that Princeton Animal Control Officer Mark Johnson filed against him. Mr. Johnson has alleged that he witnessed Mr. Rosenberg dragging a Rhodesian Ridgeback in the then borough on Oct 18.
Mr. Rosenberg, a former Birch Avenue resident now living in Lawrenceville, had held himself out as a dog trainer; the ridgeback belonged to a woman who lived on Elm.
This is but the latest in a string of animal abuse cases Mr. Rosenberg is fighting. He was indicted in February on third-degree animal cruelty stemming from an allegation that he killed a dog in Princeton last year. That was followed by a second indictment in June for two counts of fourth-degree animal cruelty in which the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office claims he abused his two dogs, also last year.
He has pleaded not guilty in both of those cases. The third-degree offense carries up to five years in state prison.
As for the Elm Road case, Mr. Rosenberg was in Princeton Municipal Court Monday afternoon before Judge John F. McCarthy III, who said from the bench that he knew Mr. Rosenberg. The judge, who will not recuse himself from the matter, later read Mr. Rosenberg his rights. A trial date was not scheduled.
In court, Municipal Prosecutor Reed Gusciora — also a state assemblyman — said he would recuse himself from prosecuting the case because he knows Mr. Rosenberg “for a number of years.” Outside court, he said he knew him from when Mr. Rosenberg worked previously at an area restaurant.
Mr. Gusciora said a substitute attorney —Lyle Hough — would fill in for him. He added he does not want anything to “jeopardize” the case, one in which authorities will seek jail time. If convicted, Mr. Rosenberg could get anywhere from one day to six months in jail, Mr. Johnson said.
But Mr. Johnson said Mr. Rosenberg is fighting this case because if he gets convicted, he would be in violation of his probation for an earlier conviction for endangering the welfare of a child. Beginning in 2009, Mr. Rosenberg had a sexual relationship with a child starting when she was 14.
He pleaded guilty to the endangering charge, for which he received a suspended four-year sentence in November 2011. He is a registered sex offender in New Jersey, according to the sex offender registry.
James R. Wronko, Mr. Rosenberg’s lawyer, left court declining to comment.
(Packet Online - Aug 12, 2013)
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