Marijuana Party Boss Cleared After Cream Hits Officer's Cheek

Marc Boris St-Maurice, leader of the Marijuana Party, says he is happy that
the Canadian justice system respects every man's right to throw a cream pie
in his own face -- even if a bit of the sugary goo lands on the cheek of a
Mountie.
Mr. St-Maurice, 32, of Montreal, was charged with assaulting a police
officer after a pie incident at a marijuana legalization rally on
Parliament Hill on Nov. 25. The charge was withdrawn in an Ottawa court
yesterday by assistant Crown attorney Ursula Hendel after she watched an
amateur video of the incident.

"Upon reviewing the video, the Crown takes the position there is no
prospect of conviction," she said. The video shows Mr. St-Maurice with a
loaded pie trying to approach a statue of Emily Murphy, a women's rights
advocate and, Mr. St-Maurice said, anti-marijuana crusader who helped bring
in prohibition of the drug in 1923.

As Mr. St-Maurice approaches the statue, two RCMP officers bar his access.
When it is clear he can't get close enough to hit the statue, Mr.
St-Maurice nails himself in the face

It should be noted that this particular pie was a baked good of
considerable mass, and as Mr. St-Maurice hit himself, some of the cream hit
the left cheek of an officer standing beside him.

When this happened, the Mounties took their man into custody and he was
charged.

After the Crown withdrew the charges yesterday, Mr. St-Maurice, who has
convictions for marijuana possession and mischief, explained his actions.

"I absolutely did not mean to hit the officer," he said.

"The RCMP would not let me near the statue, and I was left with a live pie.

"The only honourable thing to do at that point was disarm the pie on
myself, which I did." Defence lawyer Lorne Goldstein praised Ms. Hendel for
withdrawing the charge based on the video evidence. "To the Crown's credit,
once they did see the video, they knew this was a silly charge," he said.


Newshawk: puff_tuff
Pubdate: Tue, 26 Jun 2001
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2001 The Ottawa Citizen
Contact: letters@thecitizen.southam.ca
Website: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Jake Rupert
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjparty.htm (Canadian Marijuana Party)