Toronto Cop Gets 6 Years For Shooting Knife Wielding Teen On Streetcar

1CK1S
1CK1S Members Posts: 27,471 ✭✭✭✭✭
Const. James Forcillo will spend his first night in jail following a precedent-setting sentence of six years in prison for shooting 18-year-old Sammy Yatim on a streetcar in July 2013, but may be released on bail pending appeal in time for the long weekend.

In his scathing ruling sentencing Forcillo, 33, to a year longer than the mandatory minimum of five years, Justice Edward Then sent a clear message that officers who break the law must be held to a higher standard than regular citizens because of the position of trust they are placed in.

“When a police officer has committed a serious crime of violence by the breaking the law which the officer has sworn to uphold, it is the duty of the court to firmly denounce that conduct in an effort to repair and to affirm the trust that must exist between the community and the police to whom we entrust the use of lethal weapons within the limits prescribed by the criminal law,” he said.

Then criticized Forcillo for failing to follow his training to use lethal force only as a last resort, instead shooting Yatim six times as he lay injured and dying on the floor of the streetcar.

“The shooting of Mr. Yatim was unnecessary and unreasonable and excessive from the outset of the second volley,” he wrote. “The precipitous shooting of Mr. Yatim contrary to Officer Forcillo’s training constitutes a fundamental failure to understand his duty to protect all life and not just his own.”

Then’s sound rejection of the defence’s position that a sentence of two years of house arrest was appropriate and that a five-year sentence constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in this case was met with praise by justice system observers. (The Crown had asked for a sentence of eight to 10 years.)

“This is sending a message that police wrongdoing isn’t going to be condoned,” said David MacAlister, a professor of criminology at Simon Fraser University. “There have been a number of high-profile situations across the country and it has resulted in the public attitude towards police being adversely affected . . . I think the sentence in this case reflects that the public does have concerns and something significant has to be done about it.”

After a four-month trial that ended in January, a jury convicted Forcillo of attempted murder for firing the second set of shots, but acquitted him of second-degree murder for the first volley, which an autopsy concluded actually caused Yatim’s death.

He is the only police officer in Canada to have been convicted and sentenced for attempted murder, according to his lawyers.

Forcillo is appealing both his conviction and sentence, and seeking bail pending the appeal being heard. At a hearing at the Ontario Court of Appeal on Thursday afternoon Forcillo’s lawyer Michael Lacy told a judge that the jury verdicts are a “logical absurdity” and the conviction should be reviewed.

The Crown opposed the bail application, arguing the enforcement of the sentence in such a serious case is where the public interest lies. The Crown concedes that Forcillo is not a flight risk and is not a danger to the public.

He spent some hours on Wednesday — the third anniversary of Yatim’s death — staring at the wall and reliving the what-if questions that haunt him.

“The police and the public should be working hand in hand. De-escalation techniques need to be learned again,” he said of the change he hopes comes from his family’s loss. “I think the majority of (police officers) are superb, nice people but you always have a bad apple or two.”

Yatim’s parents both said it bothered them that they have received no apology from Forcillo. When given the standard opportunity to address the court before being sentenced Forcillo declined.

“That hurts a lot,” Yatim’s mother Sahar Bahadi said. “He destroyed our families. He destroyed our lives, but never showed any kind of remorse.”

Bahadi’s lawyer Julian Falconer said the difference between this case and many others was the presence of irrefutable video evidence, and reiterated his call for body cameras to be worn by police officers.

Comments

  • northside7
    northside7 Members Posts: 25,739 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I really hope he loses that appeal.

    Shot eight times and then tasered.
  • BiblicalAtheist
    BiblicalAtheist Members Posts: 15,668 ✭✭✭✭✭
    EmM HoLLa. wrote: »
    Canadians seem to get it...

    Yeah but Canada also has rules like; if someone breaks into your house and you ? them, you could very likely be charged with murder.
  • StoneColdMikey
    StoneColdMikey Members, Moderators Posts: 33,543 Regulator
    I'm not in Canada
  • KingFreeman
    KingFreeman Members Posts: 13,731 ✭✭✭✭✭
    EmM HoLLa. wrote: »
    Canadians seem to get it...

    He had the complexion, and they making an example out of the cop cause Toronto police really not ready for the fallout of that type of ? bring. Police here don't take stats on race, and have a good relationship with the media so we don't actually even know if theres a trend or not for anything.

    Cop went overkill for absolutely no reason than to ? that kid so if he has to be the vehicle for other cops to know they not gonna skate like these cops in the states then im with it, but that white boy was assaulting chicks at knifepoint holding the passengers hostage and ? , then standing in the door popping ? at police. I've jammed ? for less on the bus.

    Way I see it he was supposed to get shot. They shoot ours for much less. Bugs the ? outta me that that just gets glossed over. They on some "hes misunderstood" nonsense. Kid was a ? . I hate that he's a martyr for this but I rather him than an innocent black kid. Hopefully the cops out here got the message delivered today tho.
  • Paprika
    Paprika Members Posts: 2,475 ✭✭✭✭✭
    EmM HoLLa. wrote: »
    Canadians seem to get it...

    Yeah but Canada also has rules like; if someone breaks into your house and you ? them, you could very likely be charged with murder.

    It's an equivalent force rule, if they break into your house with a knife you have to use a knife in defense. If you manage to defend yourself and take it one step further and ? them you will be charged and go to jail.

    Excessive force is the rule that gets lost in the heat of the moment. So it is difficult and more often property owners face charges and possibly jail time.
  • CapitalB
    CapitalB Members Posts: 24,556 ✭✭✭✭✭
    EmM HoLLa. wrote: »
    Canadians seem to get it...

    Yeah but Canada also has rules like; if someone breaks into your house and you ? them, you could very likely be charged with murder.

    so does America..
  • CapitalB
    CapitalB Members Posts: 24,556 ✭✭✭✭✭
    ? a burglar can slip and fall in ur house and sue! lol
  • A Talented One
    A Talented One Members Posts: 4,202 ✭✭✭
    EmM HoLLa. wrote: »
    Canadians seem to get it...

    FOH b.

    There have been a good number of police killings of black men under questionable circumstances going decades in Toronto and Montreal and I don't believe that even one them have been convicted.
  • Lou Cypher
    Lou Cypher Members Posts: 52,521 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I would like to live in Canada. Probably on the east side of the country. Toronto area. Its not much different from Alaska scenery wise.
  • Splackavelli
    Splackavelli Members Posts: 18,806 ✭✭✭✭✭
    EmM HoLLa. wrote: »
    Canadians seem to get it...

    Yeah but Canada also has rules like; if someone breaks into your house and you ? them, you could very likely be charged with murder.

    No wonder why they joke on TV that canadians are stupid. Are you kidding me?!?!?!
  • A Talented One
    A Talented One Members Posts: 4,202 ✭✭✭
    Sion wrote: »
    In Canada we understand that's why I say alot of the stuff that happens in the U.S. wouldn't EVER happen in Canada. And I remember this event too. His partner actually decided to get the chief behind the kids family and was also supposed to testify. In some U.S. states they brush it under a rug and defend the officer when they know it's wrong.

    You naive and ignorant ? , wacking me and posting this ? . I am speaking facts.

    Some of the blacks killed by police under questionable circumstances going back decades:

    Marcellus François
    Anthony Griffins
    Lester Donaldson
    Michael Wade Lawson
    Raymond Lawrence
    Junior Alexander Manon
    Reyal Jensen Jardine-Douglas
    Eric Osawe
    Andrew Loku

    And more...

    Not a single one of the cops involved have been convicted, though a few were charged.
  • bgoat
    bgoat Members Posts: 4,339 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Don't let Canada fool ya


    TIMELINE
    Abdirahman Abdi's fatal encounter with Ottawa Police
    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/abdirahman-abdi-s-fatal-encounter-with-ottawa-police-1.3697454
    Passersby and people inside the building see some of what happens, and catch some of it on video. They later tell CBC News the first officer used a baton on Abdi, while the second officer, who arrives in a cruiser, rushes in and delivers blows to Abdi's head.

  • A Talented One
    A Talented One Members Posts: 4,202 ✭✭✭
    In April 1992 an all-white jury acquitted the officers charged in the killing of Michael Wade Lawson, and shortly after that Rodney King was acquitted. A protest was called over the King verdict, but two days before it was to be held Raymond Lawrence was killed in Toronto. Tensions were consequently very high, and as a result the protest turned violent. There was actually a riot in Toronto over police violence. This issue goes way back. Don't listen to these naive negros like Sion.



    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WZtRw9II2s
  • BiblicalAtheist
    BiblicalAtheist Members Posts: 15,668 ✭✭✭✭✭
    EmM HoLLa. wrote: »
    Canadians seem to get it...

    Yeah but Canada also has rules like; if someone breaks into your house and you ? them, you could very likely be charged with murder.

    so does America..

    Really? I thought in the US if broke into your house and you shot them, the fault was on the person breaking in cuz they kinda put themselves in a bad situation.
  • A Talented One
    A Talented One Members Posts: 4,202 ✭✭✭
    Sion wrote: »
    Sion wrote: »
    In Canada we understand that's why I say alot of the stuff that happens in the U.S. wouldn't EVER happen in Canada. And I remember this event too. His partner actually decided to get the chief behind the kids family and was also supposed to testify. In some U.S. states they brush it under a rug and defend the officer when they know it's wrong.

    You naive and ignorant ? , wacking me and posting this ? . I am speaking facts.

    Some of the blacks killed by police under questionable circumstances going back decades:

    Marcellus François
    Anthony Griffins
    Lester Donaldson
    Michael Wade Lawson
    Raymond Lawrence
    Junior Alexander Manon
    Reyal Jensen Jardine-Douglas
    Eric Osawe
    Andrew Loku

    And more...

    Not a single one of the cops involved have been convicted, though a few were charged.

    You're a talented ? and you dont know ? about my country. No matter how you paint it our country is nothing like America with all due respect to the United States. ? like you can go on live TV and spit their fuckery over major news networks you couldn't do that in Canada we'd pull the plug on you. We have great laws about gun control and no one even has guns out here to the degree of the states and look how tiny our crime rate is compared to yours. We might have an incident once in a blue moon. Miss me with your ? ? ? SMMFH just take your L in silence.

    You ? brainwashed ? , you are oblivious to the true nature of your country, especially your beloved Toronto.

    So talking about racism is "? ? " now? WTF.

    LMAO... you're the ? if you're responding like this to me pointing out the anti-black racism that exists in Canada.
  • CapitalB
    CapitalB Members Posts: 24,556 ✭✭✭✭✭
    EmM HoLLa. wrote: »
    Canadians seem to get it...

    Yeah but Canada also has rules like; if someone breaks into your house and you ? them, you could very likely be charged with murder.

    so does America..

    Really? I thought in the US if broke into your house and you shot them, the fault was on the person breaking in cuz they kinda put themselves in a bad situation.

    shoot him or her in the back and see how that works?? lol
  • lethal5
    lethal5 Members Posts: 1,889 ✭✭✭✭✭
    It was in the paper today, he might only do a year on prison and serve the rest on house-arrest.....if so, the cocksucka got off easy.
  • LUClEN
    LUClEN Members Posts: 20,559 ✭✭✭✭✭
    EmM HoLLa. wrote: »
    Canadians seem to get it...

    Yeah but Canada also has rules like; if someone breaks into your house and you ? them, you could very likely be charged with murder.

    I think you're exaggerating the likelihood of jail time in such a scenario. Judges can be pretty lenient in situations like that, particularly when you have children in the home (assuming you are licensed to own and operate firearms etc).
  • BiblicalAtheist
    BiblicalAtheist Members Posts: 15,668 ✭✭✭✭✭
    LUClEN wrote: »
    EmM HoLLa. wrote: »
    Canadians seem to get it...

    Yeah but Canada also has rules like; if someone breaks into your house and you ? them, you could very likely be charged with murder.

    I think you're exaggerating the likelihood of jail time in such a scenario. Judges can be pretty lenient in situations like that, particularly when you have children in the home (assuming you are licensed to own and operate firearms etc).

    I didn't even say the words jail time. I think you were a little too excited to argue.
  • dallas' 4 eva
    dallas' 4 eva Members Posts: 11,216 ✭✭✭✭✭
    EmM HoLLa. wrote: »
    Canadians seem to get it...

    Yeah but Canada also has rules like; if someone breaks into your house and you ? them, you could very likely be charged with murder.

    so does America..

    Really? I thought in the US if broke into your house and you shot them, the fault was on the person breaking in cuz they kinda put themselves in a bad situation.

    You can't chase them down the street trying to ? them, but in Texas if you break into someones home well I believe the phrase 'If he dies he dies' would become pertinent.
  • SneakDZA
    SneakDZA Members Posts: 11,223 ✭✭✭✭✭
    When a police officer has committed a serious crime of violence by the breaking the law which the officer has sworn to uphold, it is the duty of the court to firmly denounce that conduct in an effort to repair and to affirm the trust that must exist between the community and the police to whom we entrust the use of lethal weapons within the limits prescribed by the criminal law,” he said.

    Why is that so hard to understand here in the states?