Linda Gibbons found guilty of disobeying court order, to be sentenced Wednesday

BY TONY GOSGNACH

Linda Gibbons during one of her many peaceful protests in front of Toronto abortion clinics.

TORONTO, September 9, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) — Linda Gibbons was found guilty of disobeying a court order during a hearing in the provincial court at College Park in downtown Toronto this afternoon, with sentencing put off until this Wednesday at 2:15 p.m. at the same location.

The charge related to her arrest while demonstrating outside the “Morgentaler Clinic” abortion site this past June 11. Madam Justice Feroza Bhabha rejected defence counsel Daniel Santoro’s two arguments: that an injunction protecting the abortion site did not apply to Gibbons and that even if it did, her conduct on that date did not constitute a violation of its terms.

Bhabha said the document’s language encompassing “John Doe and Jane Doe and persons unknown” meant Gibbons was included and that Santoro’s argument was a “collateral attack” on the injunction, a process that has to be pursued in Superior Court. Morgentaler lawyer Clayton Ruby had argued the same in his surprise appearance before the court at the previous trial hearing.

As well, Bhabha accepted the testimonies of Morgentaler “operations manager” Shayna Hodgson and Intercon Security guard Brett Kitchen in ruling that Gibbons’s actions of wearing a large placard, standing in close proximity to the site’s door and engaging clients in dialogue meant she was “disturbing, interrupting or attempting to interrupt” the functioning of the Morgentaler site, conduct which is prohibited by terms of the injunction.

More: http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/linda-gibbons-found-guilty-of-disobeying-court-order-to-be-sentenced-wednes