BCCLA Calls for Independent
Review in VPD Shooting
by B.C. Civil Liberties Association
The BCCLA is calling for a special prosecutor to
review the decision not to lay criminal charges against the Vancouver
Police Department officer involved in the Paul Boyd shooting. Boyd was
shot eight times during the incident on Granville Street in August of
2007 and the inquest into his death concluded last week.
“Police officers may only use lethal force when
someone presents a risk of grievous bodily harm or death to them or
other people,” said David Eby, Executive Director of the BCCLA.
“The
scientific and physical reconstruction evidence presented at the inquest
strongly supports the witnesses that say Boyd was shot the eighth and
final time in the head, 23 seconds after he hit the ground, while he was
in a crawling position.”
New evidence revealed at the inquest included a
second-by-second reconstruction by the VPD of bullet timing based on
audio captured in police radio and 911 calls. In a report not mentioned
in the CJB summary of why they didn’t lay charges, the attending
pathologist confirmed that the track of the final bullet, the only shot
that was immediately fatal, went through Boyd’s face and into his heart.
The bullet track showed that Boyd had been most likely on hands and
knees, with his head up and looking at the shooting officer.
“This police officer had 23 full seconds to pause, see
and consider what other witnesses said they saw: that Boyd was
bleeding, disarmed, crawling and had already been shot seven times,”
said Eby. “The inquest evidence revealed there is no question about
which bullet was fatal, when it was shot, and what Boyd was doing at the
time.”
The BCCLA is calling for a special prosecutor to
review the file. Special prosecutors are lawyers who are independent of
the Criminal Justice Branch and do not work with police on a regular
basis. They are regularly appointed when government is in a conflict of
interest on a file.
December 22, 2010
For Immediate Release
