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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A Yellowknife man who urinated on a carpet in the entrance to a downtown grocery store last March was found guilty on June 30.

At the man's trial, the manager of Extra Foods testified that one of her staff told her, that at 3:40 p.m. on March 15, a man was urinating in the store's entranceway, between the two doors leading from the parking lot. When she arrived to see for herself, the manager said she found him leaning up against a wall for balance, relieving himself on the carpet.

She said the 60-year-old man was well known by store staff for regularly hanging around the entrance and panhandling, and that he looked drunk.

Shortly after, the RCMP arrived and arrested him, leaving Extra Foods staff to wash down the entranceway

and clean the carpet.

The accused's lawyer, Jay Bran, got the manager to admit under cross-examination that she didn't have to block off the entrance or close the store, and that the carpet wasn't damaged and didn't need to be replaced.

For Bran, this last admission was significant given the wording of the charge: that the man had caused mischief with relation to property by wilfully damaging the

carpet with his urine.

"We don't even know how much pee got on the carpet; it could have been one drop or two litres," Bran said. "We don't even know if there is a stain."

Bran called the lack of proof of damage to the carpet a "black hole of evidence."

Crown prosecutor Angie Paquin said the carpet had to be cleaned right away or the smell of the urine would have resulted in lasting damage. She admitted there was no evidence as to how much urine splattered on it.

Bran responded by saying there was also no evidence of any smell of urine because of the incident. For the judge to speculate that damage resulted would violate his client's right to a fair trial, Bran added.

Judge Garth Malakoe, however, disagreed. He found the accused guilty of mischief with relation to property damage not exceeding $5,000.

There was nothing controversial in the manager's testimony, the judge said, adding that more than a few drops of urine must have splashed on the carpet given how long the accused was seen urinating. The odour on the carpet, if not removed, would have constituted damage, Malakoe concluded.

The man, wearing stained grey sweatpants and a black hoodie, did not testify in his own defence.

Meanwhile, he has more charges against him. He is set to begin another trial on two charges of breaching an undertaking. Malakoe scheduled both the sentencing on the mischief conviction and the trial for the same day, July 28 at 9:30 a.m.

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