By TOM HOWELL JR.
thowell@njherald.com
The attorney for an Andover Township woman accused of assaulting two officers during a well-being check at her home is seeking materials to build her defense, including a police manual on handling people with a mental illness.
Prosecutors allege Linda A. Leenstra, 47, became agitated and assaulted township patrolmen Richard Then and Brian Kitchcart when they attempted to take her in for medical attention Nov. 15.
A grand jury indicted Leenstra in May on two counts of aggravated assault and throwing bodily fluids. The most serious charges are third-degree crimes punishable by up to five years in prison.
Leenstra filed a tort claim against the township police department that alleges the officers used excessive force.
Her criminal defense attorney, Daniel Colfax, filed a motion to dismiss the indictment at the Superior Court in Newton.
However, Colfax said Wednesday he needs additional materials from the prosecutors to effectively argue his motion points.
"I'm kind of in a box," he told the court.
Judge N. Peter Conforti said Colfax is entitled to much of what he is seeking, but signaled a motion to dismiss the indictment would be unsuccessful in light of the defense's claims before the court.
"My initial response would be that's why we have trials," Conforti said.
Andover police had responded to Leenstra's home several times before the alleged incident because she apparently sent a text message to her therapist asking, "Do you think it's a good day to die? I do."
The police officers said in their reports they saw the woman in the front hallway of her home and were worried she was going to hurt herself when she retreated into her bedroom. That concern was the reason they entered the home, and subsequently had to use force to subdue her, they said.
Colfax is seeking the township police's health and wellness policy. The handling of someone with a mental illness is a primary issue for his client, who has been diagnosed with a bipolar condition.
Assistant Prosecutor Rachelle Jones said Leenstra has a 16-year history with the township, including a physical confrontation with a water official.
Jones accused the defense of putting the police's procedures on trial and requesting the materials to bolster Leenstra's tort claim.
Conforti, however, said the grand jury transcript made him sympathetic to Colfax's request.
"The officer specifically refers to it in his testimony as to why he entered the house," Conforti said. "If there's a written policy, I want him to have it."
Colfax also requested any cell phone records between the officers who responded to Leenstra's home and other members of the police department.
He said police sometimes communicate on their mobile phones, which does not appear in official dispatch records.
"It's a circumvention of the protocol," he said in court, noting he does not know if such calls exist in the Leenstra case.
Conforti granted his request, but personal phone calls must be redacted from any phone bills.
