A Ramsey County District Court jury on Tuesday night convicted a 17-year-old in the brutal beating of Ray Widstrand last summer in St. Paul.

Cindarion De’Angelo Butler was found guilty of aiding and abetting first-degree assault and aiding and abetting first-degree aggravated robbery.

However, Butler was found not guilty of committing those crimes for the benefit of a gang.

The jury deliberated about four hours before its verdict; additionally, they spent another 10 minutes determining the crime involved “aggravating” factors that made it more serious — and could potentially double Butler’s sentence.

Butler tugged at his collar and hair but did not otherwise react as the verdicts were read at 8:30 p.m.

Widstrand and his parents were not present for the verdict, and Butler’s relatives, who were present, declined to comment.

Butler’s attorney, Christopher Zipko, said: “I think it’s unfortunate that the jury thought he was responsible, given the small amount of evidence they had,” adding of his client, “I think he’s stunned right now. He’s trying to put on a strong face.”

Widstrand, 27, was brutally beaten the night of Aug. 4 while walking in his Payne-Phalen neighborhood on St. Paul’s East Side. A large crowd of young people had spilled into the streets near Minnehaha and Payne avenues after a party on Preble Street, and Widstrand apparently went to the aid of one of the girls who was fighting.

Some seven to 10 teenage boys and young men attacked him after one of them punched him, knocking him to the ground, according to witnesses.

Although he’s still recovering from a severe brain injury, Widstrand came to court Tuesday afternoon to hear the closing arguments in the trial. At one point, prosecutor David Miller displayed photos of Widstrand lying half-clothed and unconscious in the street.

It was the first time that Widstrand had seen them.

“It was weird to see me on the ground covered with blood in front of my old apartment,” he said.

Zipko argued that the lead investigator on the case, St. Paul police Sgt. Sheila Lambie, picked certain suspects to pursue and ignored information about others.

The prosecution presented no evidence of gang activity or affiliation by Butler, Zipko argued.

“Just because my client happens to be at a party, they think he’s a gang member,” he said.

Miller asserted that the evidence against Butler was more than sufficient to convict him.

The strongest to emerge in the trial was the presence of Widstrand’s blood on the top of Butler’s shoes and on his jeans.

The prosecution presented a video from a Route 64 Metro Transit bus in which two girls say they see blood on Butler’s shoes. Butler can be seen wiping it off, Miller said.

The way the blood appeared on the items was “consistent with kicking a bloody surface,” Miller said a BCA witness testified.

Zipko countered by saying Butler was merely in the vicinity of the beating and did not take part. He also called the amount of blood on the shoes and clothing “minute.”

Miller urged the jury to analyze the believability of each witness and consider their various vantage points.

Some were neighbors uninvolved in the melee. One woman saw the scene from her apartment but could not identify specific participants. Another saw a man wrapping what she believed was a gun in a pair of yellow shorts later identified as Widstrand’s.

A woman in the crowd, Doneesha Richards, testified she saw Butler helping to remove Widstrand’s shorts. Her sister, Tanikqwa Givins, said a man with Air Force Nikes was kicking Widstrand. Butler was wearing that type of shoe.

No one directly identified Butler as one of the assailants.

However, because of the way the charges were defined, the jury did not have to find that Butler actually assaulted or robbed Widstrand himself, but that he played an “intentional role in aiding the commission” of those crimes and made no effort to prevent other people from doing them, Miller said.

Miller also pointed to the testimony of officer Rondle Townsend, who described himself as an expert on St. Paul gangs.

The HAM (Ho’s and Money) Crazy and FAM (Forever After Money) gangs were both represented at the street gathering, Townsend said.

How did it benefit them to attack Widstrand? “Because they can do it,” Miller said. “They got the numbers, and they got the power.”

Zipko fiercely disparaged the gang officer’s testimony, saying all of the nine criteria the police use to define a person as a gang member are subjective.

The sum of the gang evidence against Butler, Zipko said, was that other gang members were in the area at the same time, and that Butler danced around with the man witnesses said knocked Widstrand to the ground.

Butler lied to police about his whereabouts that evening because he was on juvenile probation and had a curfew — not because he took part in the assault, Zipko said. Butler told investigators he was in bed by 6 or 7 p.m.; the beating occurred about 11:30 p.m.

Butler did not testify in his own defense.

Outside the courtroom after closing arguments, Widstrand told reporters he was doing well. He walked with difficulty while his father helped him. He also had a wheelchair and a walking stick.

“My recovery’s going good,” he said, his speech slow. “Another week I’ll have the mobile IV out, and I’ll start going to outpatient therapy next week.”

Butler will be sentenced March 25. Following their verdict, jurors also determined that a pair of “aggravating factors” could be considered during sentencing — including that Widstrand was particularly vulnerable, due to the fact that he was unconscious, for a significant portion of his assault; and that three or more people participated in the crime.

Several jurors declined to comment as they left the Ramsey County Courthouse in downtown St. Paul.

Another defendant in Widstrand’s assault, 19-year-old Issac Maiden, was acquitted in November of assault, aggravated robbery and committing a crime for the benefit of a gang.

A 15-year-old boy pleaded guilty in October to taking part in the beating; he was sentenced to two years in juvenile detention.

A fourth defendant, a 15-year-old, faces a hearing Wednesday on whether he will be certified as an adult pertaining to the charges against him, which include first-degree assault and aggravated robbery, both committed for the benefit of a gang.