CHURCH OF UNIVERSE FOUNDER TO GET $15,000 FROM MALL OWNER

Tucker Awarded Damages in Mall Suit Church of Universe Founder to Get
$15,000 From Mall Owner, But Jury Dismisses Baldasaro's Claim

A Superior Court jury has awarded $15,000 in damages to Church of the
Universe founder Walter A. Tucker, finding the 69-year-old man was
roughed up and assaulted by security guards at Eastgate Square.

At the same time, the jury dismissed a similar claim by fellow
marijuana minister, Michael Baldasaro, 53, who will be stuck with at
least some of the legal costs incurred by mall owner, Cadillac
Fairview Corp. Ltd.

The two men, who represented themselves in court during the 12-day
trial, argued they were unlawfully ar-rested, assaulted and humiliated
by se-curity staff on Nov. 25, 2000.

Baldasaro, who was a mayoralty can-didate at the time, believes he and
Tucker were accosted because securi-ty staff were operating under a
mistak-en impression that they were cam-paigning in the shopping mall.

Tucker said he was merely purchas-ing a book from a local author, who
was signing copies at a table, when guards approached and demanded he
leave.

He said his arm was "painfully" twisted behind his back and that other
security staff handcuffed and "dragged Brother Baldasaro away like an
ani-mal."

"The Charter of Rights and Free-doms is the supreme law in Canada and
overrides all other laws," Tucker said after the verdict.

"Shopping malls and supermarkets have no right to come up to you - and
without reasonable or probable grounds - order you to leave. And then
beat you up because you don't go run-ning to the door immediately
because you want to finish your transaction."

With their long, gray beards and colorful woven-hemp hats, the pair
are well-known advocates for the le-galization of marijuana, which
they use as a church sacrament. On the day in question, they were
attracting more attention than usual because they were sporting
red-and-white top hats emblazoned with the Canadian flag.

The six-member jury spent two days deliberating before coming up with
answers to 21 questions put to them by Justice Thomas Lofchik.

From their answers, the jury ap-peared to find that Tucker and
Bal-dasaro both refused to leave when asked and that their arrests,
therefore, were legally justified under the Tres-pass to Property Act.

However, the jury found the guards used more force than necessary in
arresting Tucker and that he suffered physical injuries as a result.

The plaintiffs were seeking millions of dollars, so Tucker's $15,000
award was a relatively small victory. Baldasaro said he will appeal
the dis-missal of his claim and also challenge the constitutional
validity of the Tres-pass to Property Act.

Although he denies campaigning on the day of his arrest, Baldasaro
argues it would have been legally permissible under the Canada
Elections Act.