YATIM INQUEST TO START ON NOVEMBER 14, 2022 IS POSTPONED -Media Coverage & Excerpts

Initial Media Coverage on the Unexpected Postponement of the Inquest on November 14, 2022

CBC IN FRENCH:

https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1928421/yatim-tramway-mort-crise-police-sante-mentale-coroner-formation-desescalade-violence

CBC IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION FROM THE FRENCH:

THE SAXON NOV 14 2022

CTV

https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/coroner-s-inquest-into-fatal-shooting-of-teen-by-toronto-police-postponed-1.6151651

CBC

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/sammy-yatim-shooting-death-inquest-1.6647147

THE TORONTO STAR

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2022/11/11/coroners-inquest-into-fatal-shooting-of-sammy-yatim-by-toronto-police-begins-monday.html

GLOBAL

MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE MOTION BY JAMES FORCILLO REGARDING SCOPE TO INCLUDE “SUICIDE BY COP” AND TO ADDUCE FURTHER EVIDENCE

THE EMPOWERMENT COUNCIL’S SUBMISSIONS ARE MENTIONED IN:

The TORONTO Star https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2022/11/23/sammy-yatim-inquest-derailed-by-forcillos-11th-hour-suicide-by-cop-motion.html

“The motion is outrageous, and I don’t say that lightly,” said Anita Szigeti, lawyer for the Empowerment Council, a mental health organization that often has standing at police shooting inquests in Ontario.

Suggesting that Yatim brought his own death upon himself intentionally by provoking Forcillo meets the dictionary definition of the word, she said — “a shockingly offensive suggestion that goes beyond all standards of what is right or decent.”

IN CP24 https://www.cp24.com/mobile/news/police-officer-who-fatally-shot-teen-argues-inquest-should-consider-suicide-by-cop-1.6165596

Anita Szigeti, a lawyer representing the Empowerment Council, which has expertise in police interactions with people in crisis, also opposed the motion, calling it “outrageous.”

There’s potential for a “devastating effect” on people with mental health issues, speech difficulties and intellectual disabilities if failure to respond to police is seen as a provocation that justifies use of lethal force, Szigeti said.

Same quote in Global https://globalnews.ca/news/9300025/sammy-yatim-inquest/

The Toronto SUN https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/police-officer-who-fatally-shot-teen-argues-inquest-should-consider-suicide-by-cop

and the French language CBC here: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1935266/yatim-tramway-mort-crise-police-sante-mentale-coroner-formation-desescalade-violence

Approche de la santé mentale

Le groupe Empowerment Council a eu les arguments les plus percutants. Son avocate, Anita Szigeti, s’est dite scandalisée par la requête de M. Forcillo.

Il ne s’intéresse ni à cette enquête ni à la peine de la famille Yatim, et encore moins aux recommandations du jury pour éviter qu’un autre policier ne commette la même faute que lui, dit-elle.

La théorie du suicide est incendiaire et préjudiciable, tout ce qui importe, c’est que Sammy Yatim était en crise ce soir-là et ce qui ne signifie pas pour autant qu’il voulait s’enlever la vie, poursuit-elle.

Anita Szigeti,

Anita Szigeti, avocate pour le groupe Empowerment Council, qui défend des personnes atteintes de maladies mentales.

Photo : Radio-Canada / Martin Trainor

Me Szigeti souligne que l’enquête du coroner doit porter sur la façon dont les policiers prennent la décision d’ouvrir ou non le feu sur un citoyen en détresse sur la voie publique.

James Forcillo a pris la mauvaise décision, rappelle-t-elle.

Elle s’inquiète en outre du fait que la requête de M. Forcillo soit soumise après 20 ans d’efforts pour démystifier la santé mentale et sensibiliser le public et les autorités aux problèmes de santé mentale.

Nous nous sommes battus pour discréditer cette théorie, qui ne fait que blâmer les victimes et dégager les policiers de toute responsabilité au sujet du recours à la force mortelle, conclut-elle.

City News with video embedded interviewing the lawyers and Sammy’s Mom

Toronto police officer who fatally shot teen argues inquest should consider ‘suicide by cop’

CBC Radio – METRO MORNING WITH ISMAILA ALFA NOVEMBER 24 2022

https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-39-metro-morning/clip/15950814-empowerment-council-lawyer-anita-szigeti-discusses-controversial-request

https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-39/clip/15950814

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About Anita Szigeti

• Called to the Bar (1992) • U of T Law grad (1990) • Sole practitioner (33 years) • Partner in small law firm (Hiltz Szigeti) 2002 - 2013 • Mom to two astonishing kids, Scarlett (20+) and Sebastian (20-) • (Founding) Chair of Mental Health Legal Committee for ten years (1997 to 2007) * Founding President of Law and Mental Disorder Association - LAMDA since 2017 * Founder and Secretary to Women in Canadian Criminal Defence - WiCCD - since 2022 • Counsel to clients with serious mental health issues before administrative tribunals and on appeals • Former Chair, current member of LAO’s mental health law advisory committee • Educator, lecturer, widely published author (including 5 text books on consent and capacity law, Canadian civil mental health law, the criminal law of mental disorder, a law school casebook and a massive Anthology on all things mental health and the law) • Thirty+ years’ experience as counsel to almost exclusively legally aided clients • Frequently appointed amicus curiae • Fearless advocate • Not entirely humourless
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