Sammy Yatim Inquest to Begin Tomorrow, Following Last Minute Motion in 2022

Following the decision of Dr. David Cameron to dismiss the motion brought by James Forcillo seeking to put speculative evidence before the jury on the theory of ‘suicide by cop’ ahead of the inquest’s anticipated commencement in November 2022, the inquest into the death of Sammy Yatim is set to start tomorrow Friday January 12, 2024.

Link to the live stream of the inquest has been included here.

Sammy Yatim was an 18-year-old man from Syria who had come to Canada to pursue higher education at both the high school and university level. At the time of his death, he had been in Canada for four years and was preparing to start a program in hospital management at George Brown College. Sammy had been living with his father Nabil and his sister Sara in Toronto.

On July 27, 2013, Sammy was shot nine times by then Constable James Forcillo on a TTC streetcar. The shooting was investigated by the Special Investigations Unit (“SIU”). On January 25, 2016, Constable Forcillo was found guilty of attempted murder and not guilty of second-degree murder/manslaughter. Forcillo was sentenced to six years in prison on July 28, 2016.

The inquest into Sammy’s death will look specifically at mechanisms and processes to promote good decision making by police officers and best practices for police responding to a person in crisis.

Related Documents:
Yatim Motion Decision – Dr. Cameron – March 29, 2023

R v Forcillo, 2016 ONSC 4850 (Sentencing Decision)

Related Postings:
https://falconers.ca/inquest-into-the-death-of-sammy-yatim-to-begin-monday/ – November 11, 2022

https://falconers.ca/toronto-constable-forcillo-who-shot-sammy-yatim-wants-supreme-court-of-canada-to-hear-case/ – July 10, 2018

https://falconers.ca/james-forcillo-cop-who-killed-sammy-yatim-admits-perjury-gets-6-more-months-in-jail/ – June 1, 2018

https://falconers.ca/forcillo-sentencing/ – July 29, 2016

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