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| Bagnell case reserved |
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| Blue Rodeo's Bob Egan - LIVE! |
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| Blue Rodeo's Bob Egan |
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| Bagnell family seeks inquest, autopsy reports |
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After hearing submissions from lawyers representing the Bagnell family, the coroner, the Provincial government and the Vancouver Police Department, Mr. Justice Kelleher of the BC Supreme Court has reserved judgment on the Bagnell family's application for an Order that a date be set for a coroner's inquest and for an order that the coroner deliver documents to the family.
Robert Bagnell, 44, died on June 23, 2004, more than 14 months ago. The VPD initially told his family that Robert died of a drug overdose, then a month later revealed to the media that they had Tasered him twice just before he died. Another month after that, the VPD acknowledged that he was not a threat to anyone and that he was not involved in the commission of a crime when they sent an ERT (SWAT) team into the washroom Robert was in. The police said Bagnell was shocked with 50,000 volts so they could "rescue" him from a "fire" in his building. Although the family doubts these claims, they have been unable to obtain copies of police or autopsy reports and they have been unable to get an inquest scheduled.
Meanwhile, another death has been reported in Ohio, bringing to 153 the total number of North Americans who have died after being jolted by the "non-lethal" Taser.
End of summer house and garden party with Blue Rodeo's Bob Egan:
Monday, August 29, 2005 from 5:00 p.m. on.
E-mail or call me at the coordinates below for more details.
House and garden party with Blue Rodeo's Bob Egan:
Monday, August 29, 2005 at 5:00 p.m. on. E-mail or phone me for details.
Frustrated by months of stonewalling, the family of Robert Bagnell have filed a Petition in the Supreme Court of British Columbia (Action No. L051909) seeking a court order to compel provincial authorities to turn over autopsy reports and to hold a coroner's inquest into Robert's death.
Robert Bagnell, 44, died suddenly on June 23, 2004 on the fifth floor of a Vancouver rooming house. Vancouver police originally told his family he died of a drug overdose. About a month later, the police told the media that they had repeatedly used a Taser on him before he succumbed. Later, the police suggested that they had used the Taser in order to "rescue" Robert from a fire on the first floor.
Although a coroner's inquest is mandatory whenever someone dies in police custody, the BC Coroner's Service has so far refused to schedule an inquest or to provide autopsy results to the family.
Robert Bagnell's parents have had to rely on media reports to try to understand how and why their son died. The autopsy and toxicology reports, which would include the cause of death, have been kept secret from them. However, many others have seen the documents. Here's a partial list of those who presumably have copies of the documents that have been kept from the family: the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy, the coroner, VPD investigators, Victoria PD investigators, Police Complaint Commissioner Dirk Ryneveld, Q.C., several Crown Counsel lawyers... everyone with an interest in the case, except Robert Bagnell's parents and sister.
The family plans to have their Petition heard in BC Supreme Court on August 29, 2005.
