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WEEKEND, November 9-11, 2012 News worth sharing.
Will Mambo co-owner serve time?
Revenge. Crown argues woman deserves 90 days, probation for retaliation over bad resto reviews JOE LOFARO
joe.lofaro@metronews.ca
Marisol Siomoes, left, leaves court Thursday after a sentencing hearing. Mike Carroccetto/for Metro
The co-owner of the Mambo Nuevo Latino restaurant has already been punished by having her reputation attacked and should not serve a sentence behind bars, her defence lawyer argued Thursday at a sentencing hearing. Marisol Simoes was found guilty Sept. 6 of the rarely used charge of defamatory libel by Justice Diane Lahaie, who ruled she was the one who sent a lewd email to a customer’s employer and set up a fake online dating profile of Elayna Katz after she left a pair of negative reviews of the
ByWard Market eatery on May 28, 2009. Lahaie set a sentencing hearing for Nov. 16 after hearing arguments from the Crown and defence. Simoes’ lawyer, Henry Burr, argued the “substantial” media and Internet coverage of this case has spiralled to the point that it has negatively affected his client. “Her personal reputation has been affected, her professional reputation has been affected and both businesses have been affected financially,” said Burr. He made the judge aware of the effect of widespread media coverage has had on Simoes, who never testified in her own defence in court. He told the court he was even contacted by the Dr. Phil talk show and Entertainment Tonight. He said a conditional sentence would be appropriate for Simoes. “This is not our classic repeat offender,” he added.
Crown attorney John Semenoff argued for a 90-day jail sentence and “a lengthy period of probation.” He said it was “troubling” that Simoes viewed herself as the victim in a pre-sentence report. Her online attacks on Katz over a prolonged period of time and her criminal record were cited by Semenoff as aggravating factors. He argued a sentence served outside of jail would send the wrong message to the public about cyberbullying. Katz said in a victim impact statement her reputation has been tarnished over the past two years. “I suffered through an ongoing rollercoaster of emotions,” she said. She asked that Simoes deliver an apology to her and her employer.
Follow Joe Lofaro on Twitter @giuseppelo