A man convicted of manslaughter at a stabbing in Canada Day 2020 in Downtown Eastside will spend the next 18 months in jail.
A man will spend 18 months in jail after being convicted of manslaughter in July 2020, in which a man died in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
BC Supreme Court Justice David Crossin said Daniel Haydon’s death was the result of a fistfight that broke out between Haydon and Luis Alberto Maulen, 53, on the morning of July 1, 2020.
Maulen claimed self-defense for the Canada Day incident in which Haydon, 49, was stabbed twice.
“I conclude that the accused used excessive force in defending himself against this much larger man,” the judge said in a March 11 decision released on March 22. “However, the use of the knife to stab the victim twice was not reasonable. Depending on the circumstances.”
After Haydon died of his wounds, Maulen was charged with second-degree murder.
However, a jury found Maulen not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter.
Crossin said critical evidence during the trial consisted of a video that captured aspects of the confrontation, but not the stabbing. The most important coroner was a Ms. Van Kalsbeek, a bus driver who watched the end of the match.
The court heard that Haydon had a reputation for violence.
“He was a drunk and a bully,” the judge said.
That July morning, Maulen Haydon heard his name called from a bus stop in East Hastings. He crossed the street to Haydon.
Maulen had a knife used for carving, but Crossin said there was no evidence he intended to use it as he approached Haydon.
When Maulen arrived at the bus stop, Crossin said, Haydon beat him. The blow to the head caused him to fall, the court said.
“The accused testified that the knife came loose during the fight while he was on the ground,” the judge said. “The accused grabbed it when he thought the deceased was reaching out for it.”
The judge said Maulen was scared for his life and stabbed Haydon twice. Haydon got up and stumbled back to the bus stop bench. Maulen walked away with the knife in his hand.
Van Kalsbeek testified that she saw the stabbing when she pulled her vehicle to a halt. She testified to having seen Maulen walk away with the bloody knife.
Pathological evidence confirmed that Haydon suffered two wounds: one on the lower left part of the abdomen and one on his upper left thigh.
“Both wounds were serious; both potentially fatal,” Crossin said. “He died quickly of blood loss.”
The total sentence was 20 months plus six days in jail, but Crossin credited Maulen with 66 days in custody.
jhainsworth@glaciermedia.ca