On Wednesday September 7th the Ontario Court of Appeals began three days of hearings on whether police should be allowed to consult a lawyer before writing their notes. The Family of the deceased Levi Schaeffer was one of the groups bring the matter before the courts.
The exact details of Levi Schaeffer's death in may never be known. The officer who shot him, and three other officers were instructed by a superior to consult a lawyer before writing their notes, which were eventually penned two days after Schaeffer's June 24th 2009 death.
"We are hoping people will join us in court over the next two days to make it absolutely evident to the court and media that the public has a very strong interest in the out come of these matters" said Rachelle Sauve a friend of the Schaeffer family and a member of the group Justice For Levi [justiceforlevi.org]. She ask supporter to help donate to help pay their massive legal costs.
The Hearing continues Thursday and Friday at the Ontario Court of Appeals, located at 130 Queen St. West, in court room number one. The three Judge Panel heard today from the lawyer for Schaeffer and another family, the Special Investigation Unit, the Urban Alliance on Race Relations, the Canadian Civil Liberties Union, and the Criminal Lawyers Association. Tomorrow lawyers for the respondents, including police unions, will make their arguments.
"The officers created two set of notes only one of which has been seen by the [Special Investigations Unit] SIU, the original set of notes has only been seen those officers solicitor. I don’t understand how the SIU can do the job of investigating if they don’t have the notes to investigate with" Ruth Schaeffer told the Toronto Media Coop in August 2010.
She explained what they knew of her sons death based on the police notes. They explained that he was found with a stolen boat and that after a brief conversation, the officers they took him into investigative custody. he then broke free and pulled a small knife. He slowly approached the officers until an officer shot him twice, once in the arm and once in the chest.
"My son is dead , it was too late to find justice for my son, there wasn’t any. As metal health patient there was no justice, as a criminalised person there wasn’t any" said Schaeffer. She believes that their challenge will help bring justice to those who are still alive and stop other families from going through what she hers did.
For more information visit these links:
http://www.justiceforlevi.org/
http://toronto.mediacoop.ca/story/family-man-killed-opp-speaks-out/4468
http://fcbarristers.com/Falconer/cases.html#ongoing
