Tredyffrin police officer is acquitted of assault

A Tredyffrin Township police officer accused of "body-slamming" his wife into a tub was acquitted yesterday of simple assault. Michael J. McCarthy, 37, was convicted by a Montgomery County Court jury of a lesser charge of harassment.

Ian Hood, Philadelphia's deputy medical examiner, testified yesterday that the abrasions and bruising sustained by Jennifer McCarthy, 38, of Lower Pottsgrove Township, would have been "far greater" if her husband had flung her into a tub on June 26, as she described.

Until yesterday, Hood had never served as a defense expert in more than 20 years as a forensic pathologist. But he took the stand during the two-day assault trial to dispute Jennifer McCarthy's version of events. Michael McCarthy has been on administrative leave from the police force without pay.

The jury deliberated more than three hours. McCarthy will be sentenced at a later date on the harassment conviction.

- Kathleen Brady Shea