The West Tisbury building inspector admitted in court this week to sufficient facts in a case where he pushed an octogenarian at the annual town meeting in April. 

In Edgartown District Court Friday, Joseph Tierney agreed to the plea for an assault and battery on a person over 60 or disabled charge, and was ordered to continue without a finding for a year. 

Mr. Tierney, 6

4, admitted to shoving Leon Brathwaite toward the tail end of the spring annual town meeting at the West Tisbury School on April 8. According to police reports, witnesses said Mr. Brathwaite, who was 83 at the time, was in the audience and was chatting with a person next to him while another speaker was at the microphone. 

Mr. Tierney tried to get Mr. Brathwaite to stop talking during the other person’s time. Mr. Brathwaite claimed that he then leaned in to better hear Mr. Tierney.

“Next thing, he pushed me,” Mr. Brathwaite said in court Friday. “I spun around like a top. I just hit the chair.”

Mr. Brathwaite went to the hospital for bruising on his leg and while there he discovered blood clots in his right knee. 

“I had swelling in my arms, my legs and difficulty walking,” he told the judge. “I’m getting better at walking, but the point I want to make, your honor, is that I was a very active 83-year-old on that night. My life has changed dramatically since and I don’t have the same energy.”

Mr. Tierney’s attorney Robert Moriarty told the court that his client had been a zoning official in West Tisbury for the last 13 years and had worked as a volunteer firefighter in town. His client admitted to brushing off Mr. Brathwaite, but said there was no ill-intent.

“Mr. Tierney did not intend to hurt Mr. Brathwaite,” the lawyer said. “Did he put his hands on him? No question.” 

Because this was Mr. Tierney’s first charge, Judge Paul Pino accepted the admission of facts and continued the case without a finding for one year.

Mr. Tierney is also ordered to have no contact with Mr. Brathwaite, though the inspector can be in town hall at the same time as Mr. Brathwaite. Mr. Tierney is also required to enroll in an anger management course. 

In Massachusetts, admitting to sufficient facts in a case allows the court to waive a trial, and judges can set conditions that allow defendants to avoid a formal guilty finding.

The town of West Tisbury had previously set parameters for Mr. Tierney to continue working. In June, ahead of his court case, the West Tisbury select board approved a “last chance” agreement for Mr. Tierney. 

Under the terms of the agreement, Mr. Tierney had to take a conflict resolution course and forfeit a week’s worth of vacation time. He would be terminated if any future offenses occurred or if he failed to comply with the agreement. 

At the time, Mr. Tierney did send an apology letter to the select board.  

“Please know that I was acting out of frustration and I should not have touched Mr. Brathwaite,” Mr. Tierney wrote. “It is conduct that is neither expected of someone in my position, nor is it conduct that I am proud of.”

Editor's note: a previous version of this article incorrectly stated Mr. Tierney's age. He is 64.