Funny, another breed of advocates comes to mind:
Smoking opponent tries to clear air, his record
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Misti Crane
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Floyd Locke can’t tolerate cigarette smoke.
When someone smokes around him, he speaks up. He tells them he lost his brother to lung cancer, that his heart can’t handle second-hand smoke.
He didn’t expect his passion would turn him into a criminal.
Last month, he left Champaign County Municipal Court owing $35, plus court costs after an argument over smoking at a youth baseball game in Urbana turned nasty.
More troubling to Locke than the money is that he left convicted of disorderly conduct, a charge he’s spent about $30,000 fighting with the help of two Columbus lawyers.
Locke’s version of the story: While attending his son Sam’s game on June 4, he was bothered by numerous smokers in the stands.
Signs on the concession stand and on fences read: "Urbana Youth Sports ask that if you must smoke, please do so away from the playing field and others. We suggest the parking lot be the designated smoking area."
The parents’ code of conduct carries the same message.
There is no law enforcing the request.
When police were called to the field that day, Locke’s the one who left with a ticket.
Others said he was belligerent, blocking a woman from getting out of her seat as he confronted her.
Becky Powell, a nonsmoker who argued with Locke at the game, said she felt "threatened."
"He was beating on his chest saying, ‘What are you going to do about it?’ "
He acknowledges uttering those words after he requested that police be called. But he brushes off the notion that he threatened anyone.
Furthermore, Locke said he’s not a chest thumper, what with a pacemaker in his chest and his use of the blood-thinner Coumadin.
In any case, a police officer cited him, saying he interfered with people’s rights and dis- rupted the ballgame. None of the smokers left with tickets.
"It seemed to me like he was the only one who had a problem with the smoking and he should be the one to move," Powell said.
"As far as I’m concerned, he went there looking for a fight."
After a trial that included 10 witnesses, Judge Susan Fornof-Lippencott agreed with the officer’s assessment.
Locke asked for a new trial; Fornof-Lippencott denied him.
The judge was a bit surprised Locke didn’t plead guilty, or no contest, like most people charged with a first-time misdemeanor. He’d have left with the $35 fine plus court costs. He wouldn’t have had to pay for lawyers and witnesses.
"Probably around $100, at the most," Fornof-Lippencott said last week. "This really isn’t about smoking or cigarettes. It’s just about the way in which it was approached."
The judge said the dispute could have been about people eating peanut butter near someone who is allergic to peanuts.
Now, Locke’s awaiting his appeal.
He says all he wants is to clear his name.
"I teach Sunday school," he said. "I went 55 years — never had any fights, never got arrested or cited for anything other than traffic violations. Then, all the sudden I’ve got this terrible stain on my record."
Others think Locke’s after more than a spotless record.
He’s carried petitions for SmokeFree Ohio, an effort to pass a statewide smoking ban, and has complained of smoking at baseball and soccer games for years.
"He’s out after one thing, and that’s to make it so nobody can smoke. This is how he is getting his publicity," Powell said.
Prosecutor Gil Weithman, who characterized the June melee as a "miniriot," had a similar take.
"I think it’s been funded by someone who has a greater interest in smoking," he said.
Locke said he’s spent his own money save for a couple hundred from friends, and recently sold $20,000 in collectable coins to pay his lawyers, David Axelrod and Christopher Snyder, to continue the fight.
"People say it’s not worth it, but it’s only money," he said. "And if somebody outright tells an untruth and does something against you, you should probably try to set it correct."
mcrane@dispatch.com 
Login
FAQ
Search
