Thursday, March 28, 2024

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James Forcillo Gets Bail

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James Forcillo has been granted bail after spending the night in jail.   Yesterday the Toronto constable was sentenced to six years in a penitentiary for the 2013 shooting death of 18-year-old Sammy Yatim on board a Toronto streetcar.

It was uncommonly quiet in the courtroom as the sentence was handed down, Forcillo didn’t say anything as he stood to be handcuffed, his wife sat with her eyes closed and Sammy Yatim’s family was also quiet, even though they were not unhappy with the sentence imposed, they’re still incredibly sad. Wednesday was the third anniversary of their son’s death.

The defence argued that the mandatory minimum sentence of five years for attempted murder shouldn’t apply to police officers, because prison is cruel and unusual punishment for them. That was the first argument the judge shot down before sentencing the now-suspended officer.

Sammy Yatim was 18 years old and high on ecstacy in July 2013, when he pulled a knife on a Toronto streetcar. He refused to drop his weapon and Constable James Forcillo fired three shots, which were fatal according to testimony at trial. In January a jury found Forcillo not guilty of second degree murder because those shots were warranted, but after a six-second pause Forcillo continued to fire, six more times. The jury found Yatim was no longer an imminent threat at that point and Forcillo should have stopped shooting, so they found him guilty of attempted murder.

Forcillo testified that he thought Yatim was getting back up, and that’s why he continued to shoot. The judge said “the video is powerful evidence that demonstrates conclusively that what officer Forcillo says occurred did not occur.”

He said the shooting “constitutes a fundamental failure to understand (Forcillo’s) duty to preserve all life and not just his own.”

After sentencing the judge noted that James Forcillo showed no remorse throughout the trial process. He said that didn’t aggravate the sentence he gave Forcillo, but nor did it make him lenient. Forcillo was to have a bail hearing which could see him out of jail pending appeal. That hearing was put over to Friday morning.

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