California woman on trial after going maskless in grocery store

A maskless woman accused of refusing to leave a Costa Mesa grocery store has become the only person to go on trial in Orange County after allegedly refusing to follow face-covering mandates during the coronavirus pandemic.

A jury will soon decide whether Marianne Campbell Smith is guilty of a pair of misdemeanor charges — trespassing and obstructing a business or customers — for allegedly refusing to leave a Mother’s Market during an anti-mask protest on Aug. 15, 2020.

A second woman who entered the store with Smith – Jennifer Marie Sterling – headed off a jury trial by taking a plea deal requiring her to plead no contest to an infraction for refusing to leave when ordered by a police officer upon an owner’s request. She received a suspended sentence rather than any time behind bars, court records show.

The criminal case is an outlier for Orange County police and prosecutors, who largely focused on education and outreach rather than arrests and criminal charges when it came to mask mandates and other coronavirus restrictions.

During the pandemic, only one local business owner – the operator of a Costa Mesa bar – was charged with flouting COVID limits. And with the exception of Smith and Sterling, no other arrests or charges tied to COVID-related business mandates were reported.

Questioning by Smith’s attorney during her trial raised the possibility that Smith had health issues that prevented her from wearing a mask. That explanation was also cited by her online supporters.

During her trial this week in a Westminster courtroom, Smith has worn a plastic face shield.

According to testimony, a bustling shopping day at the grocery store was disrupted by a planned protest that forced employees to close the market’s main doors minutes after Smith, Sterling and another woman walked into the business without masks.

The store manager at the time, Eric Katz, testified that he and a security guard followed the three woman around the store as he told them at least five times that they needed to either put a face covering on or leave.

“She discussed doing it for her freedom,” Katz said of why Smith told him she wasn’t wearing a mask.

Smith – who was carrying a sign reading, “Healthy people do not wear masks” and Sterling – who was wearing a skirt with “Trump” written on it – eventually walked up to the checkout line, where Smith tried to pay for food. When employees refused to ring her up, Smith left $5 near the register, according to the surveillance footage.

By that time, about two dozen protesters had moved from the parking lot to the entrance to the market. Employees led other customers to an exit in the back.

Surveillance footage showed the group brandishing signs and flags reading “Trump 2020,” “Keep America Great,” and “Keep your politics off our faces.”

Costa Mesa police officers entered the market and arrested Smith and Sterling. The third woman, who has not been named during the trial, apparently left the market before police arrived.

Police officer Robert Hanson testified that the protesters yelled “shame, shame, shame” and compared the police to Nazis as they brought Smith and Sterling out of the market.

Under cross-examination by Smith’s attorney – Frederick Fascenelli – the officer agreed that Smith told them, “I can’t wear a mask,” and acknowledged that they didn’t follow up by asking her why.

The defense attorney during his questioning of the store manager and the officer repeatedly indicated that Smith had a card indicating that she had some sort of medical condition.

During a confrontation the previous week at another Mother’s Market, in Laguna Woods, an anti-mask activist who had been distributing fraudulent “mask exemption cards” threatened an employee over the store’s policy.

Smith told the judge on Tuesday that she does not plan to testify. Closing arguments in the trial are expected to take place Wednesday.

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Author: Sean Emery, Orange County Register

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