|
 |
|
| Last updated at 7:02 PM on 30/05/08 |
|
Bob Buckingham and Mark Smith (right), who has been found guilty of defacing campaign signs in the 2005 municipal election. — Telegram file photo |
|
|
Former Current publisher guilty of defacing signs  
The Telegram
The man accused of defacing campaign signs in the 2005 municipal election has been found guilty — but he won’t serve any time in relation to the incidents.
Mark Smith — the former publisher of the alternative newspaper The Current — was charged with mischief in the defacing of former Ward 4 councillor Kevin Breen’s signs during the September 2005 municipal election in St. John’s.
In provincial court this morning, the 43-year-old was convicted of that crime, but following a joint submission from Crown council Tina Walsh and Smith’s lawyer, Bob Buckingham, he will receive a complete discharge.
Judge David Power called the discharge a bit of a “stretch,” since complete discharges are usually only handed out in cases where the accused pleads guilty and shows remorse for their crimes.
Smith has denied his involvement throughout the two-year case.
“Although there was no direct or physical evidence Mr. Smith replaced the labels on the campaign signs, he was a participant and mastermind behind this whole event,” Power said in his decision, adding that the “sinister” scheme was thought out and involved other people.
Smith, who owns a graphics company, was convicted in a scheme which saw the word “service” replaced with the word “lying,” in the slogan “A record of service” on Breen’s sign.
Power acknowledged the fact that Smith is a businessman with no criminal record and allowed the discharge.
“All I can tell you is that’s about the best you’re going to get Mr. Smith,” the judge said.
Though he will face no time in jail, Smith will have to pay restitution for the cost of the damages — a total of $166 — as well as a $50 victim surcharge.
Power urged Smith to find other means of making political statements, saying “Mr. Smith, you are an intelligent person. You have to find a better way to not interfere with the democratic system.”
|
30/05/08
|
Comments: |
|
This Conversation is Moderated. What is moderation?
|
| What does moderation mean? |
 |
The Telegram is committed to encouraging intelligent discourse among our readers and to creating a forum where diverse views and opinions on a wide range of topics can be aired. The forum you are in now is a result of our continuing efforts to facilitate a dynamic online conversation among our readers.
This is a moderated conversation. Once a reader follows the steps to register and submit his or her comment it goes to a moderator for the website. Once it has been approved, your comment will be displayed on the website. A comment may be edited or deleted for reasons of content or language.
All readers wishing to join a conversation must first sign in and agree to the Terms of Usage, which explain the rules of acceptable content.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Don from ST JOHNS, Newfoundland writes: Just curious, but weren't there others involved in this situation besides Mark Smith?
|
| Posted 30/05/2008 at 1:35 PM | Alert an Editor | Link to comment |
| ALERT US ABOUT THIS COMMENT |
|
Please let us know if this reader's comment breaks the rules explained in the Terms of Usage and is obscene, abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, defamatory, profane or racially offensive by selecting the appropriate option to describe the problem.
Do not use this to complain about comments that don't break the rules, for example those comments that you disagree with or contain spelling errors or multiple postings.
|
|
|
|
Ronnie from Newfoundland and Labrador writes: So someone tell me this is not the same as vandalism?....And if the judge felt there was probable reason to find him guilty of mischief and he ends up without a police record.....??? I always felt the case should have been for defamation which would have carried a much weightier fine or sentence
|
| Posted 30/05/2008 at 2:04 PM | Alert an Editor | Link to comment |
| ALERT US ABOUT THIS COMMENT |
|
Please let us know if this reader's comment breaks the rules explained in the Terms of Usage and is obscene, abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, defamatory, profane or racially offensive by selecting the appropriate option to describe the problem.
Do not use this to complain about comments that don't break the rules, for example those comments that you disagree with or contain spelling errors or multiple postings.
|
|
|
Dennis Rice from St. Johns, Newfoundland and Labrador writes: Well, at least now there's a new slogan..
Mark Smith: A Record of Juvenile Behaviour.
Police record, at that.
|
| Posted 30/05/2008 at 2:25 PM | Alert an Editor | Link to comment |
| ALERT US ABOUT THIS COMMENT |
|
Please let us know if this reader's comment breaks the rules explained in the Terms of Usage and is obscene, abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, defamatory, profane or racially offensive by selecting the appropriate option to describe the problem.
Do not use this to complain about comments that don't break the rules, for example those comments that you disagree with or contain spelling errors or multiple postings.
|
|
|
too bad from nl writes: I guess the writing was on the wall(sign) LOL
next case!
|
| Posted 30/05/2008 at 3:59 PM | Alert an Editor | Link to comment |
| ALERT US ABOUT THIS COMMENT |
|
Please let us know if this reader's comment breaks the rules explained in the Terms of Usage and is obscene, abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, defamatory, profane or racially offensive by selecting the appropriate option to describe the problem.
Do not use this to complain about comments that don't break the rules, for example those comments that you disagree with or contain spelling errors or multiple postings.
|
|
|
ross from paradise, NL writes: okay, so you can get charged for defacing a candidates sign. But after the election, these signs, for the most part go un-retreived and join the rest of the litter out there. I believe it's a crimminal offence to litter, isn't it? So , if I pick up a sign three weeks after the election, still erected, can the said candidate be charged for littering?
There's a double standard here. Politicians get all the breaks and rest of us get to put up with it.
|
| Posted 30/05/2008 at 11:06 PM | Alert an Editor | Link to comment |
| ALERT US ABOUT THIS COMMENT |
|
Please let us know if this reader's comment breaks the rules explained in the Terms of Usage and is obscene, abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, defamatory, profane or racially offensive by selecting the appropriate option to describe the problem.
Do not use this to complain about comments that don't break the rules, for example those comments that you disagree with or contain spelling errors or multiple postings.
|
|
|
Marcella Toltaire from NL writes: What a joke. He paid for the signs with his interact card, but doesn't admit to defacing the signs? Did the tooth fairy do it? Did someone steal his card? Give me a break.
Mr. Smith has a record of being a mean spirited, and juvenile little man. When he published the Current, that rag was just a vile little hate filled excuse for a paper. Sounds like what goes around, comes around.......
I am sure they thought it was a big joke, to smear Kevin Breen and actually go to the trouble of having professional signs done up in order to do this. This was not done on the spur of the moment. It was elaborate and planned.....
It just goes to show how small minded an petty a man Mark Smith is......
|
| Posted 30/05/2008 at 11:51 PM | Alert an Editor | Link to comment |
| ALERT US ABOUT THIS COMMENT |
|
Please let us know if this reader's comment breaks the rules explained in the Terms of Usage and is obscene, abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, defamatory, profane or racially offensive by selecting the appropriate option to describe the problem.
Do not use this to complain about comments that don't break the rules, for example those comments that you disagree with or contain spelling errors or multiple postings.
|
|
|
Ronnie from Newfoundland writes: Re: Don from ST JOHNS,
If memory serves me right - Yes there were but I believe they snitched as part of a plea bargain which is fine in my eyes given the details of the case and the accused
|
| Posted 31/05/2008 at 2:10 AM | Alert an Editor | Link to comment |
| ALERT US ABOUT THIS COMMENT |
|
Please let us know if this reader's comment breaks the rules explained in the Terms of Usage and is obscene, abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, defamatory, profane or racially offensive by selecting the appropriate option to describe the problem.
Do not use this to complain about comments that don't break the rules, for example those comments that you disagree with or contain spelling errors or multiple postings.
|
|
|
|
wince diamond from st. johns, nl writes: whatever happened to Ray spray O'Neil??
|
| Posted 31/05/2008 at 3:16 AM | Alert an Editor | Link to comment |
| ALERT US ABOUT THIS COMMENT |
|
Please let us know if this reader's comment breaks the rules explained in the Terms of Usage and is obscene, abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, defamatory, profane or racially offensive by selecting the appropriate option to describe the problem.
Do not use this to complain about comments that don't break the rules, for example those comments that you disagree with or contain spelling errors or multiple postings.
|
|
|
NOTE
The management of this site emphasizes that it is in no way liable for persons, physical or legal, who are hosted here. Moreover, the managers of this site may not be held liable for errors and omissions that may slip into the information displayed in these reader comments. Everyone who submits a comment should read, understand and agree to the Terms of Usage for this section.
|
|
|
|
1
