Winthrop Case Continued to December

A pretrial conference for Christian Winthrop, 41, who is charged with simple domestic assault, was continued Wednesday. Winthrop was arrested after a 38-year-old woman told police he hit her in the face.

Winthrop, son of Newport Mayor Harry Winthrop, is scheduled to reappear in court on Dec. 11.

Gerard Galvin, assistant city solicitor for law enforcement, recused himself from the case, according to attorney Kevin Hagan, who is representing Winthrop on the case.

The reason for his recusal is not clear as Galvin was not immediately available for comment. Lawyers not associated with the matter said that recusal would be appropriate due to a perceived conflict of interest.

Hagan referred to the incident as a “false allegation.” The charge “is not based on any true facts or viable theories,” said Hagan. “I am absolutely confident that he will be exonerated of any wrongdoing."

Winthrop denied hitting the woman and said she fell into a car door.

After the arrest, a Facebook page, which has since been taken off-line, was created against Winthrop.

The victim of the alleged assault said the page and the publicity it generated was “extremely stressful.”

“They took their personal vendettas against Christian, and exploited me in the process,” she said. “The only people involved should be Christian, myself and the court — not the public. That Facebook page was more abusive than any physical violence I can imagine.”

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