A Cape May County family accused of witness tampering may not get to celebrate a major event together this month.
Four relatives of a man accused of attempted murder in ongoing domestic assaults allegedly continued to contact the victim in the past 11 months, according to the charges against them.
John Linnington, 31, has been jailed since last April on charges that include criminal restraint, aggravated assault by strangulation and attempted murder in alleged attacks on the woman.
Despite repeated warnings not to contact the victim either directly or through third parties, Linnington called and wrote the victim, according to the affidavit.
Recorded calls from the Cape May County also allegedly prove Linnington had his sister, uncle, mother and grandmother reach out to the woman on his behalf.
Christa, James and Marianne Linnington, along with 83-year-old Marie Britton got in touch with the woman through "phone calls, text messages, social media messages and in-person meetings," the affidavit states.
Now, the four co-defendants are not allowed to have contact with one another, including at Christa Linnington's upcoming nuptials.
Her attorney asked that the order be lifted for the May 13th event in Cape May.
"My understanding is that they’re all coming to the wedding," John Tumelty told the judge at his client's detention hearing Monday. "This is, of course, a momentous family occasion."
He called the no-contact for family members "overkill" by the prosecution.
But Assistant Prosecutor Bryna Batten alleged the wedding was motivation for the family to try to get the victim to recant the allegations so that the bride's brother would be able to attend the wedding.
"I find it a little disingenuous and, quite frankly, entitled and myopic of this defendant to now come before the court and say, 'Well I’m getting married in two weeks, I need to have contact with my co-defendants' when the reality of the situation is that wedding was planned, you engaged in this behavior on purpose," Batten said. "You knew you weren’t supposed to do it. You did it anyway. You did it repeatedly all in an effort, again, for this wedding, for her brother to be released from jail."
Now, it seems, her mother, grandmother and uncle will not be able to come either, barring a motion by one of the defendant's to allow for them to be together that day.
Work may also be an issue. The family business, Britton's Gourmet Bakery in Wildwood Crest, is getting ready to open for the season, Tumelty noted.
Marie Britton and her daughter, 63-year-old Marianne Linnington, are allowed to have contact with one another since Britton may need medical assistance, according to information released in court.
But Christa Linnington, 29, was released with conditions that include the no-contact with co-defendants.
Her uncle, 58-year-old James Linnington, will remain jailed until at least Wednesday, after Batten successfully requested a postponement of his detention hearing Monday.
"Since this defendant has been detained, we’ve had other witnesses come forward and provide new information that will result in new charges," Batten told the judge in getting the hearing pushed off.
"There is absolutely no reason to delay this case," James Linnington's attorney, Joe Rodgers, told the judge in objecting to the delay.
Meanwhile, John Linnington remains jailed on the initial charges, along with additional claims of abuse stemming from an incident in February 2022. Those charges include aggravated assault of a domestic violence victim, aggravated assault by strangulation and criminal restraint were added July 1.
(NOTE: Marie Britton was not processed at the jail, so there was no mugshot taken.)
