The assault trial of Acting Town Council President James M. Mageau is set to begin Thursday at the McGrath Judicial Complex in Wakefield.

The misdemeanor trial is scheduled to get under way at 2 p.m. in Fourth Division District Court before Associate Judge William C. Clifton. Patrick J. Sullivan of Coventry is prosecuting the case for the Charlestown Police Department; Mageau will be represented by Richard Corley of Corley, Taveras & Petrarca.

On Tuesday, Mageau repeated his belief that he will be found not guilty.

“I expect to be vindicated 100 percent,’’ he said.

Mageau is accused of swiping at a resident’s hand-held camera in the hallway of Charlestown Town Hall on the night of July 17. The incident took place before the start of a Town Council meeting. Mageau allegedly batted Clifford L. Vanover’s digital video camera as Vanover was recording a conversation between town officials. Vanover, who recorded the encounter, said he planned to file a complaint with the Charlestown police. His video was submitted as evidence and reviewed by Assistant Attorney General Stephen Regine, along with witness statements, to decide whether there was probable cause to arrest the town councilor. Mageau was subsequently arraigned on July 17 on one charge of simple assault and released on $1,000 personal recognizance pending his trial.

A Westerly Sun reporter, Chris Keegan, witnessed the incident and has been called to testify at trial. Click here to view the video of the alleged assault courtesy of Charlestown Citizen’s Alliance.

This isn’t the first time Mageau has been accused of assault by a town resident.

Milton Krantz, who recently withdrew his nomination for reappointment to the Zoning Board citing the political divisiveness that has characterized Charlestown’s politics since Mageau was elected, filed assault charges against Mageau with the Rhode Island State Police, but the case never went forward.

Mageau suggested yesterday he was only responding to behavior by Vanover at the time of the incident. Mageau has said Vanover had his camera pointed several inches from his face.

“I have a right to defend myself,’’ he said Tuesday.

But whether the acting town council president can prove self-defense remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, the conflict between Mageau and councilwomen Kate Waterman and Harriett Allen over the cancellation of this month’s council meeting hasn’t abated, Waterman said.

The Sept. 8 meeting was cancelled after Waterman said she would not attend because Allen would be absent, leaving her powerless against the voting block of Mageau and Bruce Picard. Yesterday, Waterman said she has been trying to schedule a make-up meeting for this week, but Mageau and Picard are not cooperating.

For his part, Mageau called Waterman hypocritical to accuse he and Picard of avoiding council responsibilities when that is exactly what she did earlier this month.

In an email to Waterman, which Waterman sent to a reporter and which Mageau confirmed, Mageau wrote:

“Kate: Your hypocrisy is exceeded only by your ignorance and flair for the dramatic. Who the hell do you think you are boycotting the regularly scheduled town council meeting for frivolous reasons and then demanding that I break into my busy schedule to accommodate you. If you were concerned about the town’s business you would not have violated your oath of office in the first place.’’

The email continued a bit more in the same vein before concluding with the following PS: “Your interpretation of Robert’s Rules of Order is wrong like most everything else you do.’’

Waterman said yesterday she didn’t want to wait until the council’s next regularly scheduled meeting in October to attend to town business. But Mageau said he had no intention of scheduling another meeting this month.