While at a fundraiser to help cover the funeral costs of a man who died trying to stop a fight outside of a bar in Saskatoon, Canada, a group of men became embroiled in a fight that put a man in the hospital.
Dustin Boulet, 29, was stabbed while trying to intervene in a fight outside the Tequila Nightclub and subsequently died on March 1, 2014. The nightclub hosted a fundraiser on March 8, 2014 with the funeral scheduled for the following day and, in a sadly ironic happenstance, a man attending the benefit came looking for another fight.
Brandon Selinger began trash-talking at a group of young men standing outside of the bar and a scuffle started between him and an unidentified man. Eventually, the man’s friends joined in the fight and began a multi-man assault on Selinger. The group fled before police arrived and Selinger was taken to the hospital. Selinger’s injuries required surgery for a broken jaw and he was forced into a liquid diet for two months while he recovered.
Only two men were positively identified. Christopher Godlien and Robbie Watier were going to be charged with aggravated assault, but both pleaded guilty to lesser charges. After over a year of tribulation, Godlien’s case was finally resolved on August 13, 2015. The case took so long because there were issues accessing the surveillance tapes for the defendant and his lawyer to watch. Selinger was also absent from Godlien’s preliminary hearing earlier this year.
In the end, both defendants face the same sentence of a one-year conditional sentence order, or jail sentence served in the community. Both men would also agree to pay $1,500 each as restitution to Selinger.
“He’s sorry this ever happened,” said Godlien’s attorney Leslie Sullivan. “He wishes he could have had this over, in this fashion, a long time ago.”
H/T The Star Phoenix