Toronto Police Constable James Forcillo, near, arrives at Old City Hall in Toronto on Aug. 20, 2013 after surrendering to police on a second degree murder charge laid by the SIU that stems from the shooting death of Sammy Yatim.
Constable James Forcillo, the Toronto police officer charged in the death of a teenager who brandished a small knife on a streetcar, has surrendered himself into police custody this morning.
Constable Forcillo arrived at Old City Hall for his first court appearance to schedule a bail hearing at 8:20 a.m. in a white, unmarked van with tinted windows. He looked straight ahead as the van drove towards the rear of the courthouse through a number of journalists trying to get pictures through the windows. Wearing a black suit and a blue tie, Constable Forcillo was seated in the second-row of the van, accompanied by at least four other men wearing suits.
Constable Forcillo’s lawyer, Peter Brauti, and Toronto Police Association president Mike McCormack said the officer will appear very briefly in court at Old City Hall shortly, but that he will be moved to 361 University for another court appearance. Mr. Brauti said he hopes the court schedule allows for his client to stand before a judge for a bail hearing today, but it’s unclear at this time whether the hearing will, indeed, occur today.
“Whether we can get time today is up in the air,” he said, adding that he’ll be at the University courthouse for 2 p.m. in the hopes he can be heard.
Other than outlining these initial procedural aspects of the case and what might happen today, Mr. Brauti said he would not provide comment – neither on where his client was arrested earlier today, nor how Constable Forcillo is faring.
Constable Forcillo was the sole subject of an investigation by the Special Investigations Unit, a provincial agency that probes civilian deaths involving police. The investigation concluded yesterday with SIU director, Ian Scott laying a second-degree murder charge against Constable Forcillo.
The charge is in connection to the July 26 incident when Sammy Yatim, 18, pulled out a three-inch blade on a westbound Dundas streetcar near Trinity Bellwoods Park. The passengers and driver fled the vehicle unharmed leaving Mr. Yatim behind. When police arrived, a witness video of the incident shows a verbal interaction between Mr. Yatim and officers on the ground. The teen can be seen taking a step forward at which time an officer fires three gun shots at Mr. Yatim, at which point he falls to the floor. After a pause, six more shots are fired at Mr. Yatim. Following this, an officer can be heard using a taser in the video.
The SIU did not investigate the officer who deployed the taser because it determined only one officer contributed to Mr. Yatim’s death.
Yesterday, Mr. Yatim’s family released a statement to say they were relieved with news of the second-degree murder charge laid against Constable Forcillo. While they have said consistently since his death that they bear no “ill will” against police officers in general, their statement yesterday was critical of all the officers who were on the scene at the time of the shooting.
“Our family hopes that the SIU investigation will continue looking into the actions of the supervising police officer(s) and the other officers in attendance for their lack of intervention in this tragedy,” read the statement. “Over 20 uniformed police officers were present and no one stepped forward to stop the gun shots or offer any mediation. Moving forward we expect complete transparency and accountability.”
Constable Forcillo is the second Toronto police officer to be charged with murder by the SIU in its 23-year history. He has been suspended with pay since Mr. Yatim’s death.
Source : TheGlobeAndmail
FOR MORE INFO PLEASE VISIT...
Niagara Sightseeing Tours
http://www.niagarasightseeingtours.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment