Toronto officer to learn if he'll win his appeal of sentence in Sammy Yatim killing
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An Ontario court will rule today on Toronto police Const. James Forcillo’s appeal of his sentence in the shooting death of 18-year-old Sammy Yatim.
Forcillo was convicted on one count of attempted murder and sentenced to six years in prison for his role in Yatim’s death aboard an empty streetcar on July 27, 2013.
Forcillo was among the first officers to respond to the scene and the only officer to discharge a weapon. Police were initially called for reports of a passenger carrying a weapon on a Dundas Street West streetcar.
Yatim was holding a knife when police made contact with him.
Shortly after arriving at the scene, Forcillo fired an initial volley of three bullets, which caused Yatim to fall to the floor of the streetcar. Forcillo then fired a second round of six more bullets.
The fatal shooting, captured on video by witnesses, sparked a national conversation about the use of force by police.
Forcillo’s lawyers submitted a 54-page document to the Ontario Court of Appeal in which they raised questions about the trial and sentence by Ontario Superior Court Judge Edward Then.
Much of their arguments centre on the fact the nine shots Forcillo fired resulted in two separate criminal charges: one count of second-degree murder for the first three shots, and one count of attempted murder for the second volley of six.
Medical evidence showed Yatim was critically injured by the initial round of shots, and would have died regardless of whether Forcillo fired upon him again.
The jury found Forcillo not guilty of second-degree murder, in that they believed he was justified in firing the first three shots. They did not, however, conclude that the second round of shots was justified, and therefore convicted him of attempted murder for those six bullets specifically. A further breakdown of the unusual trial result can be found here.
His lawyers argue in the appeal documents that it made no sense to allow for the nine shots fired to be separated into two separate criminal charges.
Forcillo was found guilty of attempted murder and sentenced in 2016.
In a factum submitted to the court, Forcillo’s counsellors write he “appears to be the only one in the history of the Commonwealth” to be found not guilty or murdering someone, yet guilty of attempting to murder the same person “during the course of the same transaction.
“As a matter of common sense, the suggestion that an accused can be legally justified in killing someone, but criminally liable for attempting to kill that same person within the span of less than 10 seconds is unfathomable.”
Forcillo’s lawyers also dispute his six-year sentence — one year more than the mandatory minimum, which they argue shouldn’t have applied in this case, as he was carrying a firearm as part of his job and not as someone intending to break the law.
Forcillo’s appeal lawyers argue information about Yatim’s mental state should have been allowed to be heard by the jury during trial, including the theory of “suicide by cop” which would have implied that Yatim wanted to be shot and killed by police that night.
Crown: the judge’s rulings did not prejudice the jury
But Crown lawyers argue in a written statement that the judge “properly exercised his discretion and committed no error in excluding this evidence,” saying the judge’s rulings did nothing to prejudice jury members against Forcillo.
The three Crown lawyers also agree with the judge’s controversial decision to counsel jury members on both charges of second-degree murder and attempted murder.
“The jury had to determine whether all nine of the shots that (Forcillo) fired were justified, or if the force used … at some point became excessive,” they write.
Forcillo was initially released on bail pending the results of his appeal, but he’s now detained at a Toronto-area jail. His bail was revoked after he was charged with perjury and attempting to obstruct justice in connection to allegedly breaching his bail conditions.
Article source: https://www.thelocal.fr/20180409/french-police-launch-tense-operation-to-clear-airport-site-in-western-france
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