The three men accused in the 2003 beating death of Filipino high-school student Mao Jomar Lanot saw different outcomes yesterday in what was supposed to be the first day of their murder trial.
The Crown stayed charges against one of the men and accepted a guilty plea of manslaughter from a second.
A third was scheduled to begin his second-degree murder trial on Monday.
The accused men were 16 or 17 at the time of their arrests and cannot be identified.
Mr. Lanot, 17, was brutally beaten after a swarming attack on the grounds of Sir Charles Tupper High School on Nov. 28, 2003. The youngest of three sons of a Filipino immigrant, Mr. Lanot was studying English as a second language at the school. He was returning home after playing basketball with friends when he was attacked by a group of Indo-Canadian youths. He died in hospital after the assault.
Two young men were arrested within a week of Mr. Lanot's death. A third was arrested four months later.
Crown counsel Henry Reiner said the evidence was there to proceed with murder charges against two of the accused.
"We got the best result we could under the circumstance," he said. "We discussed that with the family and the police and they're well aware of the circumstances."
Mr. Reiner said the stay charge in the third case resulted because there was insufficient evidence to warrant a reasonable expectation of conviction. Sentencing for the man who pleaded guilty to manslaughter is scheduled for Dec. 9. Manslaughter carries a penalty of a conditional sentence to 20 years in jail.
Mr. Reiner declined to say whether the two men will be called as witnesses in the trial of the third accused.
Police believe Mr. Lanot was surrounded by at least five Indo-Canadian youths outside the school and that another five Indo-Canadian youths witnessed the attack. As Mr. Lanot was walking with Filipino-Canadian friends, they were approached by the teens who police said began taunting them and then started chasing them. When Mr. Lanot fell behind, his friends abandoned him and he was caught and beaten.
Reluctant witnesses have hampered the Crown's case against the three accused. Last week, a warrant was issued for two material witnesses after they failed to respond to a subpoena to appear in court Oct. 17.
The attack heightened tensions between Indo-Canadian and Filipino-Canadian youths.
At Mr. Lanot's funeral, dozens of Indo-Canadian youths, many who didn't know the victim, attended as a demonstration of their respect and commitment to peace between the two ethnic groups. Police and community leaders urged calm amidst rumours that some Filipino-Canadian youths were planning retaliation.
Charlene Sayo, an organizer of the Filipino-Canadian Youth Alliance-B.C., said yesterday that some feel that the guilty plea is not enough.
"The violence is going to continue," Ms. Sayo said. "We're not pointing fingers at any other community group. Our stand, and we will continue to say this, is there is systemic racism that is creating artificial conflicts. If Indo-Canadian, Vietnamese-Canadian and Filipino-Canadian contributions are taught in school, we will have a better understanding of each other."
This month, an interracial rumble between Vietnamese and Filipino-Canadian young people left five men with stab wounds. No arrests have been made in that melee, which stretched over two blocks in east Vancouver and involved dozens of young men. Two of the injured were Mr. Lanot's older brothers.
Vancouver Police Constable Howard Chow said that initially investigators thought the Oct. 11 rumble was instigated over a stabbing on Oct. 1 in east Vancouver. But police now believe the two groups of young men -- ranging in age from 13 to 22 -- have battled in at least seven incidents since July. One of the incidents involved a drive-by shooting, and another included a serious stabbing that punctured the liver of the victim.
"This is not about turf, this is not about drugs. It's simply about bravado. They want to flex their muscle," Constable Chow said. "We have seen this kind of violence gradually escalate to the stage where people are getting killed on the streets."
While there are no direct links to Indo-Canadian gangs, Constable Chow said, the progress of escalating violence and tension is similar to what police saw a dozen years ago when some youths in the Indo-Canadian community began attacking each other.