“Passionate” kiss lands art lover in French court

MARSEILLE, France (Reuters) – A self-professed art lover stood trial on Tuesday accused of kissing a $2-million (986,000 pound) painting while wearing red lipstick and damaging the canvas.The deputy prosecutor in the southern French city of Avignon accused the defendant, Sam Rindy, of “savagery” for having left a lipstick smear on the work by U.S. artist Cy Twombly, and demanded the court fine her 4,500 euros (3,117 pounds).

The picture’s owner, Yvon Lambert, wants $2 million in damages and a further 33,400 euros that he says is needed to pay for the restoration work.

Rindy, an artist of Cambodian origin, has said she was “overcome with passion” when she saw the painting hanging on a gallery wall in July 2007.

“This woman is profoundly upset. She was overcome by an emotion that she could not tame,” her lawyers, Patrick Gontard Jean-Michel Ambrosino, told the court, describing the kiss as an “act of love”.

Lambert’s lawyer rejected this line of defence, saying: “In love, there need to be two consenting people.”

Rindy, who is in her 30s, told reporters earlier this year that she thought her lipstick had improved the white, untitled painting.

The court will deliver its verdict on November 16.

Police Find Man Asleep at the Wheel

RICHFIELD, Minn. —  Police say a 26-year-old St. Louis Park man was asleep at the wheel of his pickup as it drove down the street before dawn on Sunday. He didn’t wake when the truck crossed the centerline, or when an officer ran up and jumped on the running board, reached inside and put the truck in neutral.

The criminal complaint said Pedro Fernando Brito, 26, was undisturbed when the officer stopped the truck and pulled out the keys.

Then the officer got his attention. “Police had to shake the defendant’s shoulder and yell at him to wake him up,” the complaint said.

“This is a weird one. Strange,” Richfield police Lt. Todd Sandel said. “He was out to the world, behind the wheel of a moving vehicle. We were lucky it was 3:30 a.m.”

Brito was charged with driving while intoxicated, refusing to submit to a test for alcohol and driving while his license was revoked. The charges are all misdemeanors.

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