By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on November 25, 2023.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com
A Blood reserve man who spit at a security guard during a concert in Lethbridge last year will not be allowed to leave his house at night for the next two months.
Luke Dustin Many Fingers pleaded guilty Friday in Lethbridge court of justice to one count of assault, and was handed a two-month conditional sentence order, during which he must remain inside his house between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. every night and not consume alcohol or other intoxicating substances.
Police were called to the Enmax Centre in August of 2022 to help security remove two intoxicated men – Many Fingers and his brother – who were causing problems during a concert. A security guard had asked the two men to leave, and Many Fingers became upset and spit at the guard, striking him on the shirt and face.
“He then said…’now you have AIDS,’ ” Crown Prosecutor Bob Morrison told court.
Morrison said there is no suggestion that Many Fingers actually had AIDS, but the worried guard didn’t know that.
“Spitting is kind of a nasty form of assault,” Morrison said. “I think I’d rather be punched in the face than spit on, for all the things that go along with it.”
Lethbridge lawyer Darcy Shurtz said Many Fingers, who attended court in a wheelchair, is remorseful for his conduct that night, and acknowledges that he has issues when he drinks too much.
Judge Jerry LeGrandeur suggested the spitting assault may only warrant a fine, and not a two-month CSO with curfew, but he reluctantly relented after being told some of the spit landed on the guard’s face and it contained blood because Many Fingers’ nose had been bleeding.
“I guess it’s in the range, I would think a high fine would have been in the range, too, which doesn’t involve a sentence of imprisonment, which we know a CSO is,” LeGrandeur said.
He said even though the security guard may have suffered some indignity from being spit on, there were no other consequences.
“There’s no injury, no disease, there’s nothing. There’s no aggravating factor, if I can put it that way.”
Many Fingers will also be on probation during his conditional sentence, during which he is prohibited from going to the Enmax Centre.
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…and Judges wonder why people question their intelligence. Perhaps a few placed spits into the Judges face might cause him to see this as more than “some indignity” particularly when acompanied by the comment made by the criminal here….