Bullet to the heart, not Taser, killed Yatim: Crown

A bullet to the heart, not a Taser, killed a Toronto teen on a TTC streetcar two years ago, the Crown argued Tuesday.

Crown and defence lawyers are making their opening statements to the jury in the trial of a Toronto police officer accused of shooting 18-year-old Sammy Yatim on July 27, 2013.

Const. James Forcillo, 31, is charged with second-degree murder and attempted murder. He pleaded not guilty at the start of the trial and defence lawyer Peter Brauti said his client will be testifying at the trial.

Yatim was shot and killed on an empty streetcar around midnight, an incident captured on surveillance and cellphone video. Nine shots can be heard following shouted commands to drop a knife.

He was also Tasered, but that did not contribute to his death, Crown attorney Milan Rupic said.

“The Crown intends to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the shooting of Sammy Yatim was not necessary and it was not reasonable,” Rupic said.

Rupic said the first three bullets – two to the chest and one to the arm – “fatally damaged” Yatim’s heart, severed his spine and fractured his right arm.

The other bullets struck his abdomen and groin, and he was already lying on back when those shots fired. The Crown said one bullet grazed the sole of Yatim’s shoes.

The second-degree murder charge is connected to first round of bullets, which consisted of three bullets including the fatal shot.

The attempted murder charge is for the second round of shots.

A toxicology report showed Yatim had moderate to moderately high levels of ecstasy in his blood, the Crown said.

Rupic said a video shows Yatim sitting in back of streetcar, exposing his penis and pulling out a switchblade. The knife was around four inches long, he said.

“Virtually every event of consequence was recorded on video,” he said.

According to the Crown, the video shows Yatim swinging a knife at a female in front of him. The incident caused a panic on streetcar, but no one was injured.

Rupic said Yatim allowed TTC riders to get off streetcar, but the driver remained on board. Yatim asked the driver to use his phone to call his father, the Crown said.

The Crown said Forcillo and his partner were the first on the scene. Initially, both drew their guns, but Forcillo’s partner holstered her gun again after seeing Yatim.

Deputy Chief Mike Federico will be called as a crown witness to talk about police use of force training.

The trial is expected to last eight weeks with 30 witnesses.

Earlier in the day, the judge gave his opening remarks to the jury, setting out expectations and procedures for the trail.

Justice Edward Then told the jury they must hear the evidence with an open mind. He said jurors must decide the case by a reasonable assessment of the evidence, not by an emotional reaction to it.

“You must listen to and observe these trial proceedings without prejudice,” he told the jury.

Opening statements were supposed to start last week, but the trial was postponed. Defence lawyers and Crown prosecutors needed make legal arguments to the judge presiding over the case, outside the presence of the jury.

Forcillo, who has been free on bail, has been working at Toronto Crime Stoppers in an administrative role.

His legal team has said Forcillo is eager to tell his side of the story at trial.

With files from The Canadian Press