'Just two homeless people': Questions linger after man found not guilty in stomping death

The defence lawyer for a man acquitted of murder in the stomping death of a fellow shelter client questions whether the victim might have been saved by passersby if he wasn't homeless.

Faud Yasir Ali, 31, was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Mustafe Mohamud Hussein, who died in the summer of 2015.

In delivering his decision Tuesday, Court of Queen's Bench Justice Keith Yamauchiagreed with defence lawyer Adriano Iovinelli in findingthe quality of the images pulled from video surveillance was not good enough to identify him as the killer.

"Identity is the crucial issue before this court," Yamauchi said. "This court is not even able to conclude there is some resemblance between the assailant and Mr. Ali."

Video surveillance of the attack shows people driving by as the killer stomps onHussein's head in broad daylight on 10th Avenue in the Beltline.The victimwas of "no fixed address," noted Iovinelli, who saida dozen cars drove by and pedestrians literally had to walk around the unconscious man.

"I can only imagine that if it's someone that looked like a business person or an average citizen of Calgary that cars would have stopped, they would have honked their horns, they would have crossed the street, they would have done something more than just walk away and say 'it's just two homeless people' and that's just sad," said Iovinelli.

It was around 9 p.m. on a hot July night in 2015 when Hussein homeless at the time and living at the Mustard Seed was beaten and stomped into a coma on10th Avenue at First StreetS.E.

Surveillance video from the area shows people walking and driving by the victim.

The videoshowed the killer make a stomping motion before he stoodover Hussein, as cars drove by.

More footage from the area showed the same assailant on a nearby LRT platform.

Hussein died in hospital about a month later.The Somalian-born man had no family in Calgary.

Prosecutors ColinSchulhauser and Adam Drewhad argued thevictim and accused, bothshelter regulars, had been hanging out the day of the attack.

'He is a free man'

They called three witnesses who identified Ali as the person in the still image, which police hadreleasedin hopes of catching the killer.

But Yamauchi saidthe courts must look beyond the credibility of witnesses and further scrutinize the photo and video evidence.In the end, he found the man in the image issued by police hadfacial features that were "not even similar" to Ali's.

Ali testified in his own defence and denied any involvement in the attack.

Today, he will walk out of the Calgary Remand Centre for the first time since his arrest in August 2015, nearly three years ago. Ali expressed concern for his safety as he is processed at the jail before being released.

"I do not feel safe going back there at all," he told the judge, who asked the sheriffs to allow Ali to sit in a public waiting area.

"Bear in mind here that I have acquitted Mr Ali," said Yamauchi. "He is a free man."