After serving nineteen days in a Rockland County jail for attempted assault, former NY1 newsman Dominic Carter was released earlier this week. In a statement to New York, Carter — who is the subject of a feature story in next week’s issue of the magazine — said he was happy to put distance between himself and the upstate facility. “This is all behind me now,” he said. “I’m writing a new chapter in my life.”
Carter stood trial last year on charges that he beat his wife, Marilyn Carter, at their family home in Pomona, 40 miles north of the city. His wife did not cooperate with the prosecution, and Carter was acquitted of the assault charge. But Judge Arnold P. Etelson convicted him of a lesser crime: attempted assault. When Carter returned for sentencing last month, Etelson ordered him jailed for 30 days. He ordered Carter to attend domestic-violence classes for one year, and mandated psychiatric treatment. In addition, he issued a separation order for two years, apparently hoping to end the Carters’ troubled marriage. “Someday, you both will thank me,” he told the couple at the time.
Carter became a free man last Tuesday, eleven days early. According to his new attorney, Julia P. Kuan, who is preparing an appeal in the case, his sentence was reduced based on his good behavior behind bars. “I’m very sorry for what my family has been through, as well as to the television viewers, some of whom wrote me letters during the last three weeks,” Carter told New York. “I’m looking forward to jump starting my career in the immediate future.” Barred from returning to his suburban home, Carter is currently staying with relatives in the city.
Related: The Rise and Fall of Former NY1 Anchor Dominic Carter [NYM]
