"I would never intentionally hurt a child, " a Linwood teacher on trial for simple assault testified Friday.
Kimberly Peschi, 40, is accused of injuring a Belhaven Middle School sixth-grader last year when she put her leg on the back of his chair and allegedly pulled won, causing him to fall back and hit his head.
The injured boy, now a 13-year-old seventh-grader, testified that he had been leaning back and forth in his chair Feb. 9, 2017, when he felt "a force" and flew to the ground.
"Mrs Peschi kicked the back of my chair and I smashed my head on the floor," he testified of his memory of the day.
When he looked up, Peschi was standing over him: "That's why chairs are for sitting not leaning," he recalled her saying before she walked away.
But Peschi said she twice asked if the boy was OK, and that he said yes.
Both sides rested Friday, after what amounted to less than two full days of trial, although stretched over three days in court in a span of nearly three months.
Judge Timothy Maguire gave Chief Assistant Prosecutor Seth Levy and defense attorney Robert Agre until April 1 — Easter Day — to submit their briefs in the case. He will then let him know when he renders his decision.
The trial opened Dec. 15 before Maguire in Northfield Municipal Court. It was decided to be held there even though the case is being tried by the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office.
At that time, two teachers and two students testified for the state that Peschi said nothing as she walked over to the boy — who is being identified as M.M. due to his age — and knocked down the chair.
But Peschi said Friday that M.M. wasn't even what caused her to walk over to the table. Instead, she said it was the amount of noise the group was making. As she walked over, she saw M.M. leaning back and said she was worried he would fall.
She said she put her foot on the chair to help right it, not to knock the boy down.
"Why wouldn't you use your hands?" Levy asked several times.
"I'm a ballet dancer, I use my feet for a lot," she explained at one point.
Video of the incident was captured on surveillance from inside the school's cafeteria. It was played for several witnesses, including Peschi.
Levy asked Peschi is she recalled the day other than the video.
"I play it over in my head every single day for a year and a month," she said.
Peschi said that when she headed over, the chair was at a different level than by time she got there and that she didn't realize M.M. had started to push forward.
"This happened in six seconds," she said. "I just reacted. Sorry."
Another student testified Friday saying he didn't see the incident, but saw the aftermath.
"He seemed pretty hurt and he seemed to be crying," the student said.
Peschi and M.M. both testified that there had been no issues between them before the incident. He had her as his music teacher the year before, when he was a ffith-grader.
"He was a sweet child and got good grades," Peschi said.
Belhaven Principal Susan Speirs testified that Peschi told her it was "a joke gone bad."
But Peschi said that she said the investigation into the incident seemed like a joke.
Speirs admitted she did not take notes during that conversation with Peschi and that the quote was from memory.
Six character witnesses testified that they know Peschi to be truthful and law-abiding, including retired Atlantic County Judge Robert Switzer and the Rev. Paul Harte, of Our Lady of Sorrows in Linwood, where Peschi heads the choir.
Belhaven Principal Susan Speirs testified that Peschi told her it was "a joke gone bad."
But Peschi said that she said the investigation into the incident seemed like a joke.
Speirs admitted she did not take notes during that conversation with Peschi and that the quote was from memory.
Six character witnesses testified that they know Peschi to be truthful and law-abiding, including retired Atlantic County Judge Robert Switzer and the Rev. Paul Harte, of Our Lady of Sorrows in Linwood, where Peschi heads the choir.
