Bouncer cleared in Maple Ridge bar fight
A judge acquitted Joseph Robert Calla, who was charged with aggravated assault.
The family of Del Parent (L-R) brother Andre, son Kyle, stepdaughter Kayla, and ex-wife Christina, asked the public in 2010 for information regarding an attack that has left Del permanently brain damaged.
Photograph by: Jenelle Schneider , The Province
Delane Parent has difficulty expressing himself using words, but disappointment and frustration were clearly etched on his face Thursday.
Outside B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster, he and his brother, Andre, tried to absorb what had happened minutes earlier.
Justice Brenda Brown acquitted bouncer Joseph Robert Calla of one count of aggravated assault in connection with a June 2010 incident at the Wolf Bar in Maple Ridge that left Delane with a devastating injury.
“I am not satisfied that Mr. Calla’s actions caused the injury to Mr. Parent, in fact or in law,” Brown said in her decision.
Brown also declined to find Calla guilty of the lesser included offences of assault causing bodily harm and assault.
“I am not satisfied that Mr. Calla used more force than was necessary or that Mr. Calla’s actions were unreasonable,” she said.
Shortly before 2 a.m. on June 13, 2010, Delane and a friend went to the Wolf with the intention of continuing an evening of drinking.
They arrived shortly before the bar closed and had missed last call. When they were refused drink service, there was a confrontation with the bartender and bouncers — Calla, David Garnet, and Andrew Hecker — were called over.
Delane and his friend were restrained and walked out of the bar. One witness described Calla’s hold on Delane as a “choke hold,” but Brown said the woman’s testimony was not consistent with other evidence.
Calla returned to the bar, but was called outside a few minutes later.
Hecker was kicking and fighting with Delane, and Calla said in statements that he intervened to stop the fight.
He brought Delane to the ground, straddled him and slapped him in the face to get his attention.
Delane’s friend called the police and an ambulance during the fracas, but after they arrived Delane declined treatment. He and his friend took separate cabs home.
Delane did not show up for work on Monday and after receiving a call from Delane’s coworkers, Andre went to check on him on the Tuesday afternoon.
He found Delane semi-conscious in his living room.
Andre called for an ambulance and Delane was rushed to hospital.
It was discovered that Delane had suffered a dissection of his carotid artery, which caused a stroke.
Delane underwent surgery and a difficult recovery that included seizures and chronic infection.
He still suffers from aphasia — a disorder that impairs his ability to process language — and is unable to use his right hand. Delane can walk, but he uses a cane.
Andre disputed some of the evidence from the trial, particularly the allegation by Hecker, who did not testify, that Delane had prompted the second interaction with the bouncers by punching another patron.
He said his brother has never been in a fight before and pointed out that the men who dealt with Delane were trained mixed martial-arts fighters.
“There was no evidence by witnesses or by fact that my brother assaulted anyone or fought back in any way,” Andre said.
Andre said the judge’s decision doesn’t change anything for him or Delane, who lives in a care facility.
“He lost his house, his wife. He lost everything and now he’s lost justice.”
- Jennifer Saltman is with The Province
