Dover man mum on arson charge, asks to be deported

11:35 PM, Jan. 26, 2012
Written by
Peggy Wright
Staff Writer

An accused arsonist who claims he cannot talk and can barely hear asked a judge to get him deported and discussed his charges Thursday in notes he scrawled during a court hearing in Morristown.

Superior Court officials made arrangements for Brian A. Rougier, 48, to be brought before Judge David Ironson and to wear a headset to amplify his hearing. Without a lawyer present, Rougier never spoke but either shook or nodded his head in response to some questions. To clarify other answers, he gestured for paper and a pen so he could respond in writing.

Rougier was cautioned by the judge not to write anything incriminating. Ironson read aloud some of Rougier’s lengthy answers about where he is living and why he failed to appear in court for a Jan. 3 hearing. But the judge — over the protests of Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Alissa Hascup — refused to reveal one of Rougier’s written answers and said it would be sealed because it seemed to discuss the criminal charges.

“I’m not quite sure he understood” the caution to not discuss his case, the judge said. But he let Rougier write an answer to one more question about where he underwent a psychological evaluation in the past. Rougier’s penned response, read partially aloud by the judge, was: “Call the INS and have me deported back to my place of birth.” He was born in Trinidad, according to court records.

Rougier was charged on July 23 with arson after he allegedly used paper to start a fire on the living room floor of his mother’s unit at Mill Pond Towers senior citizen complex on Bassett Highway in Dover. Police went there at the urging of mental health officials and when they knocked, Rougier reportedly yelled out that he was showering and would open the door in five minutes.

“This appears to be a new issue,” Hascup said of Rougier’s inability — or unwillingness — to speak. Jail officials said he has spoken there and Dover police said he clearly could talk in July.

He refused to let police in and barricaded his mother’s door with a piece of furniture on July 23, Hascup said in court. When officers smelled smoke they tried to force their way in and one officer broke two ribs in the effort, Hascup said. Rougier’s mother was in a room of the unit, unaware a fire had been started, she said.

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