By ARIEL ZANGLA
Freeman staff
azangla@freemanonline.com; twitter.com/ArielAtFreeman

KINGSTON, N.Y — The two people accused of vandalizing white planter boxes in Uptown Kingston by spray-painting numerous red goats on them have rejected a plea deal offered by prosecutors, one of the defense attorneys said on Wednesday.

Bryan Rounds said his client, Maggie Salesman, and her co-defendant, Geddes J. Paulsen, rejected an offer to plead guilty to a single misdemeanor charge each in exchange for paying restitution for the damages and performing 50 hours of community service. He said the deal was rejected last Thursday.

Paulsen, 23, of 331 Wall St., Kingston, and Salesman, 26, of 324 Wall St., Kingston, were charged on Nov. 9 by city police with felony criminal mischief and the misdemeanor of making graffiti. The felony charge later was reduced to a misdemeanor and the case is pending in Kingston City Court before Judge Lawrence Ball.

Rounds said Salesman and Paulsen face up to a year in jail if convicted of the misdemeanor charges. He said, though, that prosecutors will have to prove the defendants intended to cause damage in order to obtain a conviction.

If Salesman did what she is accused of, she “had no intent to damage anything,” Rounds said.

Rounds said there also is an issue with the proposed restitution amount. He said the defense attorneys were told there was $6,000 worth of damage done to the planters but that he plans to argue that the spray-painting did not do that much damage. He says more damage was done by someone who took it upon him or herself to glue white pieces of paper over the goats on the planters. The paper and glue had to be removed, the lawyer said, and that work is included in the restitution amount.

Paulsen and Salesman are accused of stenciling red goats on 11 new planter boxes on Wall and North Front streets in the Uptown Kingston business district last fall. The boxes were installed as part of the renovation of the sidewalk canopies on the two streets, and the red goats appeared in late October, just before the canopies were formally dedicated. A day later, white numerals were added to the goats.

City police said a security camera video led them to Paulsen and Salesman.

Paulsen is being represented by attorney Jeffrey Provenzano, who could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

Ulster County District Attorney Holley Carnright said the next court proceeding in the case is scheduled for May 29 and that both Paulsen and Salesman have indicated they want to go to trial.

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