A man who made veiled threats to his ex-wife encouraging her not to attend a coming trial, was sentenced to six months in jail on Monday.
Jose Barbosa, 36, pleaded guilty to attempted obstruction of justice and was handed the jail term after a lengthy sentencing hearing Monday morning.
Barbosa began texting his ex-wife on Sept. 7, 2011 with a series of messages all encouraging her not to attend court the next day.
Barbosa was facing trial on a charge of uttering threats the next day and Crown prosecutor Michele Doyle said the texts all indicated he wanted her to skip the trial, leaving the Crown with no case.
She resisted his encouragement not to attend, insisting to him that she had to go, while he continued to argue with her that she could skip the proceedings.
At one point during the message exchange, he said she had a choice between “good Jose and bad Jose” that she would make with her decision on attending the trial. In the middle of the text messages, he dropped by her house in person to pick up their children as part of a custody arrangement and he again tried to persuade her not to attend.
“If you want to see hell, show up tomorrow.” He reportedly told her while picking up the children.
When the woman checked her car the next day she found her tires were flat, but she still managed to attend and testify and Barbosa was convicted on that charge.
Doyle pushed for a jail sentence of between nine and 12 months long arguing that Barbosa had made a strong and blatant attempt to interfere with a trial.
Attempted obstruction of justice often involves someone offering bribes to have a witness stay home, which was not the case here, but Doyle argued the threats of violence were even worse.
She said while he was pleading guilty, he would have been easily convicted if the case had gone to a trial.
“The case was as strong as a Crown’s case could get.”
Barbosa’s lawyer argued for a house arrest term, saying the incident had been a rash and spur-of-the-moment decision.
In settling on the six-month term, Judge Norman Mackie rejected those arguments. He said while Barbosa may not have attempted to bribe a witness he clearly tried to interfere with the system.
“It strikes at the heart of the administration of justice.”
