On September 15, 2023, a retired police chief for Glassboro Borough (Gloucester County, NJ) signed off on a plea calling for him to enter into New Jersey’s Pretrial Intervention (PTI) Program for up to one year.
The plea is intended to resolve aggravated assault and terroristic threat charges against Franklin S. Brown, Jr., currently 56, arising out of an alleged April 11, 2021, domestic violence incident occurring in Clayton. The incident was covered by local newspapers at the time.
According to the criminal complaint, Brown and an unnamed female victim were having an argument when Brown “became angry and threw the victim to the ground causing injury to the victim’s head.” Brown then “put his hands around the victim’s throat causing the victim to not be able to breathe” while stating to her “I’m going to f***ing kill you,” according to the complaint. The patrolman who responded to the call noted in his Affidavit of Probable Cause that he observed redness on the victim’s neck and a knot on the back of her head.
According to the plea form, which was signed by both Brown and the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office, Brown agreed to be placed in the state’s PTI program for one year which could terminate early upon his “successful completion of anger management eval. and recommended treatment.” The agreement also required Brown’s “completion of firearms surrender order which will be vacated upon successful completion of PTI” as well as Brown’s “forfeiture of public employment.” The agreement also calls upon Brown to give up his right to appeal and contains a cryptic reference to an “alternative sentence – N/C probation.”
According to the New Jersey Judiciary’s website, the Pretrial Intervention (PTI) Program provides defendants, generally first-time offenders, with opportunities for alternatives to the traditional criminal justice process of ordinary prosecution. PTI seeks to render early rehabilitative services when such services can reasonably be expected to deter future criminal behavior.
It is unknown at this time whether the court accepted the plea deal. A municipal court lookup shows the case’s “charge status” as still being “active.”
