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That Calvin Nicol was savagely beaten in a random 2014 attack on Rideau Street has never been in question, but the case against his accused attackers has had uncertainty from the beginning. On Tuesday, they were acquitted and freed from jail.

Ontario Court Justice Matthew Webber ruled there was plenty of reasonable doubt in an identification case mired in a blurry security tape, a detective’s error, and the fact that the complainant not only had limited opportunity to see his attackers during the vicious beating but also identified the wrong man in the prisoner’s dock when asked to do so at trial.

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Nicol, a 31-year piercer and artist, didn’t know his attackers and reported the beating to police three days later after someone paid a visit to his studio, threatening to finish the job and kill him.

Two other Crown witnesses, both friends of Nicol, couldn’t recognize James Picody as the man delivering threats. They also told court they had never seen him before, and had relied on what others had said to form their suspicion about who made the threat. Asked to identify the accused in the prisoner’s box, one witness couldn’t, and said, “I didn’t get a good look at him.”