MEDICINE HAT – A judge declared a mistrial in Geraldine Stuber's first graffiti trial, but do not cheer yet because there is yet another trial coming next month for, you guessed it, more chalk.

People in Medicine Hat are already angry about property tax hikes, and now the city is turning around and spending that money on Chalk Court.

Let us do the math. You are paying for a courtroom, a judge, a clerk, a city lawyer (who was already there withdrawing other people's tickets anyway), Officer Guthrie as the sole prosecuting witness, plus all the people behind the scenes who had to prep the file and show up to court.

All of that for something that washes off with a garden hose or a good rain, which is free and takes about thirty seconds.

The lawyer representing the city withdrew a bunch of other tickets that same day for different people with no fuss, no trial, just gone. He could have done the exact same thing for Geraldine by walking over, saying "never mind," and saving everyone a whole lot of time and your hard earned tax dollars.

He did not.

Wait, There Was Only ONE Cop as a Witness?

The city is going to trial with only Officer Guthrie as their witness, just him and nobody else. But here is the funny thing: there were actually FOUR police officers present when the ticket was issued, not just one.

The Owl was there, we have the photos, we have the video, and we watched the whole thing unfold in real time.

At least one of the other officers present on Nov 10 2025 (Lori Parasynchuk) was in the courtroom today and left the courthouse right after the mistrial was declared. She did not wait for the lunch break, as soon as the mistrial was declared she left along with another female officer.

There were no less than NINE LEOs (Law Enforcement Officers) in that one courtroom today, not including the sheriffs actually assigned to the courtroom.

So the city has at least four eyewitnesses (not including two news reporters and a civilian), and they are only using one of them in court.

The Testimony of the One Cop

Officer Guthrie testified that on November 10 at 8:40 in the morning, the MHPS got a call about chalk on the clock tower at City Hall. Officer Guthrie and the other officers showed up. Guthrie testified that he knows Geraldine from previous encounters and that she admitted doing the chalk work. He said he wrote the ticket and then he left the scene.

Then Court Got Complicated

Geraldine showed up for trial expecting a simple fight over a chalk ticket, but instead the judge announced a voir dire, which is a fancy legal term for a "trial within a trial" to decide whether her confession to the officer was voluntary or not.

She was not ready for that kind of legal argument and asked for a delay, so the judge agreed and declared a mistrial.

However, that mistrial only applies to Trial Number One.

Trial Number Two is still coming next month, again for graffiti and again for chalk.

Councillors Promised to Fix The Graffiti Bylaw Months Ago

Here is where things get really frustrating. On March 10 the Owl spoke with Councillor Stuart Young, Councillor Chris Hellman, and Mayor Clark about the graffiti bylaw (among other things).

The agendafor the Administrative and Legislative Review and Government Relations Committee did not have the graffiti bylaw on it. It was added after we interviewed those council members, which means they only decided to talk about it because a reporter asked them questions about how ridiculous the law is.

The minutes of that meeting shows that the committee voted to close the meeting to the public at 2:22 in the afternoon so they could discuss the graffiti bylaw behind closed doors under section 29 of the Access to Information Act, which is supposed to be for "advice from officials." The public was not allowed to hear what the city solicitor told them or what the council members actually said about the bylaw.

After they finished their secret discussion, they opened the meeting back up and Councillor Mohammed moved that the committee recommend that council direct administration to bring forward suggested amendments to the graffiti bylaw. The motion passed, which sounds great on paper, but here we are three months later and absolutely nothing has changed. It has not reappeared on any agenda since.

The Bylaw

Here is what the city's Graffiti Bylaw Number 3679 (which was passed twenty years ago) actually says about graffiti:

"Graffiti" means words, figures, letters or drawings scribbled, scratched, painted, sprayed, written, drawn, or otherwise applied on Premises without the consent of the owner.

Notice what is not in that definition at all; there is no mention of permanency.

Nothing about "spray paint only."

Nothing about "does not include chalk."

Nothing about "washable art supplies are fine."

Under this bylaw, chalk is legally identical to spray paint. A child drawing hopscotch squares on the sidewalk is committing the same offence as a gang member tagging a wall.

A "You Are Loved" message is legally the same as vandalism.

The fine for applying graffiti is $2,500, and there is no discount for using something that washes off in the next rainstorm.

What The Owl Saw With Our Own Eyes

We were there when the ticket was issued, we have the photos, and we have the video. Four police officers were present at the scene, but the city is only using one of them as a witness in court.

Meanwhile, people are already angry about their property taxes going up, and this is what the money is buying: a legal battle over chalk that a wet sponge could fix in thirty seconds.

What Happens Next

Graffiti Trial #1 Mistrial, to be rescheduled for another day

Graffiti Trial #2 Still coming next month

Geraldine faces $5,000 in potential fines for using chalk. The city had four witnesses but is only using one of them. They had a chance to withdraw the tickets like they did for other people on that same day, but they said no.

The Bottom Line With No Sugar Coating

One Kookum, two tickets, five thousand dollars, zero spray paint, four MHPS witnesses, and only one cop on the witness stand.

The bylaw was written in 2006 and treats chalk exactly like a crime. At least three Council Members know the bylaw is broken because they promised to fix it back in March after The Owl interviewed them, but nothing has changed since then.

Next month, Geraldine will be back in court again for chalk again, and the city will be back too, spending your money to defend a bylaw that a wet sponge could fix and a child could outgrow.

And here is the kicker. Right now, across Canada, we are observing National Indigenous History Month, a time to recognize the history, heritage, and resilience of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples.

And what is City Hall doing to mark the occasion? Next week, exactly seven days from today, they are hosting a celebration at the very same City Hall where Geraldine was surrounded by four police officers for writing with chalk.

You cannot make this shit up.

The same building that called four cops on an Indigenous grandmother with a piece of chalk will be putting up decorations and smiling for photos about how much they respect Indigenous history.

The same bylaw that treats chalk like a crime will still be on the books.

The same tickets will still be hanging over Geraldine's head.

Happy National Indigenous History Month, everyone, from the city that fines Kookums for speaking up about homelessness.

The Owl was there, we have the photos, and we will keep watching because someone has to.

Owl News

City Chooses War Over Chalk: Kookum Faces $5,000 in Fines