chort1313
01-21-2003, 08:30 AM
Cops not amused at drunk driver's smiley
Tuesday, January 21, 2003 Posted: 10:10 AM EST (1510 GMT)
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BESANCON, France (Reuters) -- A man who erased his drunk-driving record from a police computer and replaced it with a winking "smiley face" graphic ended up with a suspended license and a fine when police failed to see the funny side.
The 19-year-old computer whiz had been arrested for drunk driving and summoned to appear in court in Besancon, in eastern France, the French daily Liberation reported Tuesday. Finding an unmanned computer as he arrived at the police station for his hearing, the man decided to test the good humor of the court by sneaking into the database.
Happy talk
He deleted his file from the computer's hard drive and inserted ";)" -- the text message shorthand for a winking smiley face -- in its place.
But rather than smiling at the prank, the judge handed the man a three-month suspended prison sentence, a $425 fine and suspended his driving license for three months.
http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2003/TECH/internet/01/21/offbeat.france.smiley.reut/story.smile.gif
Tuesday, January 21, 2003 Posted: 10:10 AM EST (1510 GMT)
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Story Tools
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BESANCON, France (Reuters) -- A man who erased his drunk-driving record from a police computer and replaced it with a winking "smiley face" graphic ended up with a suspended license and a fine when police failed to see the funny side.
The 19-year-old computer whiz had been arrested for drunk driving and summoned to appear in court in Besancon, in eastern France, the French daily Liberation reported Tuesday. Finding an unmanned computer as he arrived at the police station for his hearing, the man decided to test the good humor of the court by sneaking into the database.
Happy talk
He deleted his file from the computer's hard drive and inserted ";)" -- the text message shorthand for a winking smiley face -- in its place.
But rather than smiling at the prank, the judge handed the man a three-month suspended prison sentence, a $425 fine and suspended his driving license for three months.
http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2003/TECH/internet/01/21/offbeat.france.smiley.reut/story.smile.gif