Who knows how it started. Maybe someone read a news article too quickly, or misheard a newsreader on the radio.

But by mid-afternoon Tuesday, former City Councillor Chuck Turner’s chief of staff was compelled to send out the following notice: Turner has left the building, but he has not left the country.

(UPDATE: Universal Hub tweets that Channel 5 was among those who got it wrong. They had to issue a correction.)

It is in fact his lead attorney, Barry Wilson, who is out of the country and recuperating from handling four trials in a row, Turner's case included. Wilson is not due to return until March, well after Turner’s scheduled sentencing on Jan. 25.

Turner is requesting that a judge move his date to mid-March, when Wilson returns.

Prosecutors say the date should stay Jan. 25, and add that another defense attorney who participated in Turner’s trial can represent him at sentencing.

Turner was convicted in October of taking a $1,000 bribe. He was expelled from the City Council in December, a move he contesting in a civil lawsuit.