Court Report

Jailed for recognizance breach

A Waterville man received a jail sentence for a recognizance breach.

In Kentville provincial court April 17, Judge Claudine MacDonald found Randy Dale McMullin, 45, guilty of failing to comply with a recognizance order and sentenced him to 30 days in custody.

McMullin committed the breach in New Minas March 29.

Fined for breathalyzer, MVA offenses

The court find a Cambridge man for failing a breathalyzer, as well as for two Motor Vehicle Act (MVA) offenses.

Dean Gordon Spencer, 48, pleaded guilty April 16 to having care and control of a motor vehicle while his blood/ alcohol level exceeded the legal limit, and to the MVA offenses of driving while his privilege of obtaining a license was revoked and failing to stop at the scene of an accident in which he was involved.

For the breathalyzer offense, Judge Claudine MacDonald find Spencer $900 plus a $135 victim surcharge, or 17 days in custody on willful default.

The judge also prohibited Spencer from driving in Canada for two years. The Nova Scotia Registry of Motor vehicles will ban Spencer from driving in the province for at least two years.

MacDonald fined Spencer $500 plus a $75 victim surcharge for the revoked licensing privilege and $200 plus $30 for failure to stop.

Spencer committed the offenses in New Minas Nov. 23, when police found he had blood/ alcohol readings of 160 and 150 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.

The legal limit is 80 mg/ 100 ml. The Criminal Code of Canada also provides for heavier penalties if there are aggravating factors present during a breathalyzer offense.

Found guilty of breathalyzer offense

Judge MacDonald found Greenwood resident Corey Rodney Wells, 29, guilty April 17 of driving while his blood alcohol readings exceeded the 80 mg/ 100 ml limit.

The judge fined Wells $900 plus a $135 victim surcharge, or 17 days in custody, on willful default. She also prohibited him from driving in Canada for a year, a term the Registry of Motor Vehicles will at least match, but approved the use of an interlocking device after six months.

Wells committed the offense in Greenwood June 11, when police found he had blood/ alcohol readings of 170 and 150 mg/ 100 ml.

Probation, restitution for frauds

Kings County resident Annette Josephione Morine, 36, pleaded guilty April 17 to four counts of defrauding an individual of less than $5,000.

Judge MacDonald suspended sentencing on Morine and imposed a term of one-year probation on her. She also ordered her to pay $741.82 to one financial institution and $200 from another.

Probation conditions include Morine taking any recommended assessment, counselling or treatment, and paying restitution.

Morine committed the frauds in New Minas June 12, 14 and 15, and in Wolfville June 21.

Pleads guilty to break-ins, assault, threats

Wolfville resident Arthur Henry Corbin, 27, pleaded guilty April 16 to a series of break-ins in the Wolfville area earlier this year, as well as to a number of charges resulting from an incident in Avonport in April.

Judge Alan Tufts remanded Corbin until his sentencing hearing May 6, pending a pre-sentence report.

The break-ins – from Feb. 15 to April 7 - include two at a laundromat and one each at an insurance office and a coffee shop.

The April 8 incident in Avonport resulted in guilty pleas to unlawful confinement, assault, a death threat, a threat to do bodily harm, property damage and carrying a concealed weapon, a seven-inch dagger.

A heap of MVA fines

Kingston resident Richard Vernon Saltzman, 61, pleaded guilty April 16 to four counts each of driving without the required liability insurance, driving while his privilege of obtaining a license was revoked, driving an unregistered vehicle and three of driving a vehicle without a valid inspection sticker, all contrary to the MVA.

Judge MacDonald fined Saltzman $1,000 less $700 remission, or 30 days in custody, on willful default for the insurance offenses; $500 less $350 remitted, or 30 days, for each of the driving while privilege revoked offenses; $50 less $25 remitted, or 30 days, for the unregistered vehicles and not having an inspection sticker.

Saltzman committed the offense in Greenwood, May 26; Auburn, Aug. 1; Millville, Aug. 10; and Greenwood, Nov. 8.

To trial in May

In court April 14, Judge MacDonald scheduled a 19-year-old Kentville man to trial May 5 on seven counts of break, entry and committing indictable theft, and for 11 counts of possession of property known to have been obtained unlawfully.

The accused pleaded not guilty to the charges April 1 and has been remanded from that date.

The break-ins are alleged to have taken place in various Kings County rural communities during February, and the possessions between Dec. 1 and March 6.

The materials included flat-screen televisions, digital cameras, electronic games, a laptop computer, an electric guitar and amp and jewellery.

In other court matters

Judge MacDonald found Somerset resident Rodney Charles Morton, 42, guilty April 16 of two counts of owning a dog that ran at large, contrary to the Kings County bylaw, and fined him $100 plus a $15 victim surcharge and $107 costs each.

Morton committed the offenses in Somerset Sept. 16 and Nov. 11, 2007.