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Redlemon · 04-12-2005, 05:37 AM

C'mon guys, do I always have to be the one posting follow-up articles here? Ah well, goes with the obsessive librarian thing, I guess...
Sucker bet? Boy loses gamble in bus-candy case

Quote:

A 14-year-old boy who was cited by a sheriff's deputy for licking a lollipop on a Santa Clarita Transit bus - and who refused to pay the fine in favor of a court hearing - was found guilty Monday, authorities said.

Michael Prendiz appeared at a hearing in Juvenile Traffic Court in Sylmar, where a judge found the teen guilty of violating a state penal code that supports the city's rule against smoking, eating or drinking on public transportation, according to Lt. Brenda Cambra of the Santa Clarita sheriff's station.

Despite authorities' offer to reduced the fine from $300 to $90, Prendiz and his father chose to appear before a judge. Citing confidentiality in Juvenile Court cases, a court clerk would not say what possible fine or punishment the high school freshman will face.

Sheriff's deputies often ride the buses to act as a deterrent to vandals and to enforce the posted regulations that ban eating and drinking on the bus. A deputy on the same bus cited Prendiz for consuming the lollipop, addressing the boy as "Candyman" when he instructed the teen to come to the front of the bus

<a href="http://www.the-signal.com/News/ViewStory.asp?storyID=6898">Teen’s Bus Treat a $90 Law-lipop</a>

Quote:

The teen who was ticketed for licking a lollipop while riding on a Santa Clarita Transit bus was fined $90 Monday when his dad’s bid to defend him failed.
“We went to court and we lost the case,” said Joel Prendiz, father of Michael Prendiz, who received the ticket from a sheriff’s deputy.
Originally, the 14-year-old was given a citation for $300, but the amount was later lowered.
“I would have liked to see the case dismissed,” Joel Prendiz said.
The case was heard in Sylmar juvenile court Monday. Joel Prendiz acted to defend his son, basing his argument on whether or not a lollipop is food.
In Webster’s Dictionary, Prendiz said he told the court, food is something that is chewed and swallowed. Since a lollipop is neither chewed nor swallowed, it isn’t food, he said.
But the court countered that the lollipop was in the mouth and being consumed. Hence, it was being eaten and is thus food.
“To me, if he was eating a bag of chips, I would have supported the Sheriff’s Department,” Joel Prendiz said in a phone interview following the court appearance.
“I would have thought a warning would have sufficed,” he added.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department views the transit citations as a means of keeping the buses clean, said sheriff’s Sgt. Jim Morrow. The ticket issued to Michael Prendiz was routine.
“We’re doing the same thing we’ve done for years,” Morrow said.
“The city wants us to enforce the laws, and we do.”
The transit citations, which have been issued since 1990, stem from California laws that dictate no food, drink or smoking shall take place on transit lines, Morrow said.
The day that Michael Prendiz received his citation, four similar ones were issued, he said.
“I suppose it’s part of the democracy. He can do whatever he wants,” said Morrow in response to the fight the father-and-son team put up to steer clear of a fine.
Joel Prendiz said his son has learned his lesson. “He won’t be putting anything in his mouth again.”