Jury acquits man in restaurant shooting

A jury, which heard evidence of a police agreement to pay key Crown witnesses $225,000, has found a man accused in a fatal shooting outside a Vancouver restaurant to be not guilty.

The verdict in the trial of Dinh Cuong Pham came after less than a day of deliberations by the six-man, six-woman jury.

Pham had pleaded not guilty to the July 2008 second-degree murder of Em Van Huynh, 25.

Crown witnesses, whose credibility was attacked by the defence, testified that prior to the fatal shooting, Pham was seen brandishing a gun inside the Hai Lua restaurant at Nanaimo and Broadway in Vancouver. They said Pham attempted to hide the weapon under an icemaker in the Vietnamese restaurant, which was known to be frequented by gang members. Restaurant staff took the gun and hid it in another location in the kitchen.

The witnesses said that when Pham attempted to retrieve the gun he became agitated. Pham and several others were let out a rear entrance to the restaurant but were later seen fighting in front of the restaurant.

One witness said Pham was fighting with Huynh and another man before two shots were fired. Suffering from two gunshot wounds, Huynh was rushed to the hospital but died.

In closing arguments, the Crown conceded that it was an entirely circumstantial case, with no one actually seeing Pham shooting the victim. They argued that the evidence was strong and urged the jury to convict.

But the defence pointed to an agreement under which several members of the family who owned and operated the restaurant were paid $225,000 by police to testify against Pham. Pham’s lawyers argued that the Crown witnesses had colluded among themselves in their testimony. One witness, the restaurant owner, was caught out in a number of lies.