Reminder about Riots

Its been 9 years since Vancouver Canucks have had home playoff games.

In 2011, the City of Vancouver set up public viewing areas for fans to watch Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final between the Canucks and Boston Bruins.

After the Bruins defeated the Canucks 4-0 in the decisive game, around 1,000 began rioting in downtown Vancouver, causing an estimated $3.78 million in damage in the span of about five hours, according to a report from the B.C. Prosecution Service. For five hours on June 15, 2011, rioters overtook the downtown core of Vancouver. Moments before the end of the last game in the Stanley Cup finals, when it was apparent the home team would not win, some made the choice to riot. The rioting crowd occupied West Georgia Street and the surrounding areas. The rioters set vehicles on fire, looted commercial premises, and defiantly
confronted the police. Numerous police officers and civilians were assaulted.

297 discrete riot events were documented. These 297 events involved:

• 26 arsons;
• 193 mischiefs (damage to property);
• 26 break and enters; and
• 52 assaults on civilians, police officers and a firefighter.

By July 2013, police had recommended 1,204 criminal charges against 352 suspected rioters. A total of 887 criminal charges had been laid against 301 suspects, 274 of whom pled guilty.

The legal issues at the trials for the accused varied at each trial. The issues included:

• whether the accused intended to participate in the riot;
• whether the defences of self-defence or defence of a third party or use of force to prevent the commission of an offence were available to an accused;
• whether pre-charge delay or police conduct warranted a judicial stay of proceedings;
• whether recognition witnesses’ evidence was admissible; and,
• whether the identification of the accused from the photographs and video presented at trial had been established.

In order to establish the conduct of the various accused, the Crown relied on evidence from:

• witnesses as to the events of the riot; and
• video and photographs of the events of the riot.

David Karp was hired by M.L.  M.L. was facing charges stemming from their involvement in the riot. He was an upstanding citizen prior to this and just got caught up in the mob mentality. David Karp defended M.L. with various letters of support. M.L. ended up getting a conditional discharge and did some community service. He did not have a criminal record. This was absolutely rare with high profile cases like this.

It is difficult to understand how people that normally would never behave like this ended up participating in the riot. In fact, many people facing criminal charges often find themselves in this situation due to circumstance. It is important to have compassion as a criminal defence lawyer and understand the perspective and experiences of those facing criminal charges.

If you find yourself facing criminal charges, please call me for a free consultation. It is very stressful facing criminal charges. This is why it is so important to have someone working with you and guiding you through the process.

And hopefully Vancouver does not face this situation or riots ever again.