Three men were convicted Monday of beating a Good Samaritan during Vancouver's Stanley Cupriot - an act of violence that has been singled out for special condemnation amid the chaos and destruction that swept through the downtown. A fourth man also charged was acquitted.
Robert MacKay was assaulted on June 15, 2011, outside the Bay department store during the riot that broke out following the Canucks' loss in Game 7 of the Stanley Cupfinal.
David Leonati, Carlos Barahona Villeda, Michael MacDonald and Ioannis (John) Kangles were charged with assault and participating in a riot, while MacDonald was also charged with mischief.
In a trial earlier this year, a judge reviewed photographs and videos captured by witnesses.
Provincial court Judge Greg Rideout said the video evidence, along with Leonati's own confession, proved Leonati, Barahona and MacDonald assaulted MacKay. They were each convicted of assault and participating in a riot, while MacDonald was also convicted of mischief for throwing a sign through a broken window.
Kangles, who told the court he intervened only because he believed MacKay posed a threat to others, was acquitted of all charges.
MacKay conceded he had been drinking and said his actions were likely influenced by alcohol and adrenalin. The court heard MacKay grabbed what appeared to be a bus pole from a rioter and then used the pole in an attempt to push the crowd back.
More than a dozen people then set their sights on MacKay, bringing him to the ground and repeatedly kicking and punching him. MacKay was injured, but told the court he recovered within a couple of weeks.
Kangles, who was 24 at the time, told the court he was downtown to watch the game at a movie theatre. While walking back to his car, he saw a man, who turned out to be MacKay, holding a pole outside the Bay, he told the court.
The Crown alleged a video showed Kangles kick MacKay, which Kangles denied. Kangles admitted to grabbing MacKay by the head and pulling him to the ground, but he told the court he believed he was disarming a rioter.
Rideout concluded the video did not clearly show whether Kangles kicked MacKay. While the judge said he had "reservations" about Kangles' testimony, he said Kangles' explanation for bringing MacKay to the ground - that he was attempting to protect the people around him - created reasonable doubt.
Leonati, Barahona and MacDonald are set to return for sentencing on June 23. Leonati has also been charged with breaching his release conditions.
