Douglas Healey
WCBS morning anchor Rob Morrison, of Darien Conn., enters Stamford Superior Court today.
Longtime New York anchorman Rob Morrison appeared at Connecticut courthouse today to begin facing charges that he choked his fellow-journalist wife, Ashley, at their tony Darien home — then threatened her in front of cops.
Morrison, 44, adamantly denied the charge of choking his wife Ashley -- but the WCBS-TV anchor said he regretted his conduct to the cops who showed up at their home, which they share with their 7-year-old son.
"I did not choke my wife. I have never laid my hands on my wife," told reporters outside Stamford [Conn.] Superior Court before his arraignment. "I was just as surprised by that particular charge as probably was everyone else whose heard about this story."
"I regret deeply how I acted toward the Darien Police department Saturday night," Morrison said. "I did not show them the respect they deserved. They were there to do a job, they're a fine department, they do a good job protecting the town in which I live and I sincerely apologize to them.
But Morrison — still sporting marks on his nose and upper lip from the fracas with his wife — would not answer questions about where he got his bruises, why his wife had marks on her throat or why cops have been called to his house. He walked off when reporters asked those questions.
Before that, he said, "My wife and I are humbled and overwhelmed by the support we have received from family, friends and colleagues and viewers. I've been on the other side of this and I've heard it before, it's heartening."
Patrick McMullan (right)
Local news anchorman Rob Morrison is bloodied (left) after he allegedly choked his wife, Ashley (right) and she fought back.
"I love my wife more than anything. The past ten years she has been the most important person in my life. She's helped me through some really difficult times personally...it goes without saying more than anything in this world," Morrison said.
"A great man who is no longer with us, at one point in my life told me, tell the truth and fear nothing and that's exactly what I'm going to do when I go in there."
Morrison was arrested Sunday morning, several weeks after Darien police responded to a domestic incident at their home that did not end in charges, sources told The Post.
The newsman was also arrested in 2009 for allegedly assaulting Ashley — an anchor for “CBS MoneyWatch” — at their Upper West Side apartment, a source said.
And New York police said that between 2003 and 2009, cops were called there for seven verbal disputes — none of which led to an arrest.
That sordid track record is worlds away from the handsome Morrison’s public image as a top-notch journalist with two decades of experience.
The ex-Marine spent 10 years at WNBC/Channel 4, hosting the morning show “Today in New York” before joining WCBS in 2009 to anchor the CBS 2 “News This Morning,” as well as “At Noon” with Mary Calvi.
Ashley and Rob Morrison
Sources said Morrison left WNBC in 2008 because his wife suspected him of having an affair with an intern.
For more than a year, he stayed at home, taking care of the couple’s now-7-year-old son and writing a blog for the Huffington Post titled “Daddy Diaries: Confessions of a Stay-at-Home Anchorman.”
Ashley Morrison’s mother, Martha Risk, told The Post she was the one who had called the cops on Morrison in the latest incident.
“I’m angry, so angry,” Risk said.
The Indiana woman accused Rob Morrison of repeatedly abusing her daughter.
“This doesn’t shock me. This has gone on for 10 years,” she said.
Asked why Ashley, 40, hadn’t left him, Risk said, “She’s in fear.”
Early Sunday morning, Risk said, she was sleeping at home when her phone rang with “Rob Morrison” on caller ID.
“I’ve gotten many calls from him” over the years, Risk said. “I’m sure he was drunk.”
She phoned Darien cops to report Morrison was choking Ashley, police said.
A source said Morrison told his mother-in-law Ashley was “making bad decisions” and had clocked him in the face, leaving him with a bleeding nose and mouth.
“She struck him in self-defense,” the source said.
Cops arrived at the Morrison residence at 1:30 a.m.
“While being processed [by cops, Rob Morrison] made verbal threats to do his wife additional harm, which was overheard by the arresting officers,” police said.
Morrison was charged with strangulation, threatening and disorderly conduct. Cops released his mug shot, which showed Morrison with a cut nose and bruised lip.
He was released after posting $100,000 bond and is being arraigned today in Stamford court.
Morrison’s lawyer, Robert Skovgaard, said the incident had been overblown.
“The Morrisons are confident that a full review of this matter will show that the allegations have been greatly exaggerated,” he said.
Additional reporting by Daniel Prendergast, Larry Celona, Michael Shain, Beth DeFalco and Kevin Sheehan
dan.mangan@nypost.com
