B.C.'s Coroners Service has scheduled an inquest for May 5-16, 2008 into the case of Robert Dziekanski, the Polish immigrant who died after he was stunned by an RCMP Taser at Vancouver International Airport.
Presiding coroner Owen Court and a five-person jury will publicly hear evidence from subpoenaed witnesses in order to determine the facts surrounding the death, according to a statement released Wednesday by the provincial government.
Robert Dziekanski died after being jolted by an RCMP Taser at Vancouver International Airport on Oct. 14. The case helped spur a national debate on the use of the stun guns.
(CBC)
The jury will have the opportunity to make recommendations aimed at preventing deaths under similar circumstances in the future, but not to lay blame for the death.
Dziekanski died while in the custody of the Richmond RCMP at the airport on Oct. 14 after been stunned twice by RCMP officers with a Taser .
Currently there are at least six other investigations into the death of Dziekanski and the RCMP use of Tasers:
- Federal Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day has said his ministry will release the findings of a Canada Border Service Agency internal investigation by the end of the week.
- The B.C. government has announced a full public inquiry, but has not yet appointed a commissioner or announced a timetable.
- The Public Complaints Commissioner for the RCMP, Paul Kennedy, has launched an investigation.
- The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, made up of officers from the RCMP and municipal police departments in Metro Vancouver, is conducting an investigation into the death.
- The RCMP has launched an internal review.
- The Vancouver International Airport Authority has launched an internal review.
Related
Internal Links
- Border agency's Taser report due by week's end: Day
- Vancouver airport to examine security and arrivals policies
- B.C. premier apologizes to Taser victim's mother
- Inquest into Polish man's death after Taser incident in the works
- Taser video shows RCMP shocked immigrant within 25 seconds of their arrival
- Manitoba to review Taser usage
- Man dies in N.S. jail after Taser hit
- IN DEPTH: Tasers
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