Graffiti brings felony charges

Man is accused of spraying anti-vaccine threat on buildings.

A man accused of vandalizing a Beverly Hills building and a freeway sign with antivaccination graffiti pleaded not guilty Friday to three felonies.

Marlon Brian Andrino, 28, of Ontario was charged with three counts of vandalism in connection with damage to property across Los Angeles County on July 2.

Andrino’s messages condemned California’s new mandatory vaccine law, SB 277. The legislation bars religious and other personalbelief exemptions for schoolchildren’s required immunizations.

Andrino allegedly scrawled “4 Every Kid Afflicted A Public Figure Will Die SB277” with black spray paint on West Hollywood City Hall, the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce and two locations along the 10 Freeway. Police traced the graffiti to Andrino, called him by phone and persuaded him to surrender.

The graffiti in Beverly Hills was covered up after officials unsuccessfully tried to remove it from the Chamber of Commerce’s facade, said Beverly Hills Police Lt. Lincoln Hoshino.

If convicted on all counts, Andrino faces up to four years and four months in jail.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed SB 277 into law this summer. The new law allows exemptions for schoolchildren only when a doctor “believes that circumstances — in the judgment and sound discretion of the physician — so warrant,” Brown said in a statement announcing his approval of the bill.

The law’s passage was met with disappointment by opponents, who contend that it infringes on the right of parents to make decisions regarding their children’s health.

“The science is clear that vaccines dramatically protect children against a number of infectious and dangerous diseases,” Brown said in the statement.

“While it’s true that no medical intervention is without risk, the evidence shows that immunization powerfully benefits and protects the community.”