A special prosecutor with the B.C. Criminal Justice Branch has reiterated that no criminal charges will be laid in connection with the 2007 shooting death of animator Paul Boyd by Vancouver police.
Paul Boyd was a 39-year-old animator who suffered from bipolar disorder. He was described as not having taken his medication when he was shot, and killed during a confrontation with police on South Granville Street, near the intersection of 15th Avenue, on August 13, 2007. He was hit by eight of nine bullets fired by Vancouver police Constable Lee Chipperfield. Boyd, a large man, had a bike chain when police confronted him. It is now reported that he was "armed," or, as this Province item puts it, "brandishing" the bike chain. At the time of the incident, he was reported to have been swinging the chain, and that he had hit an officer with the chain, as this CTV News item reports.
At the time there was speculation -- un-proveable -- that responding police officers may have believed they were dealing with a homeless drug addict, and that may have influenced how they handled the confrontation.
The B,C. Criminal Justice Branch, and several earlier investigations had previously cleared Constable Chipperfield of any wrongdoing, but in 2012 a 49-second cell phone video of the 2007 incident surfaced showing an unarmed Boyd on his hands and knees. The B.C. government had the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) re-investigate the case.
ASIRT executive director Clifton Purvis saw "reasonable and probable grounds" to believe Chipperfield committed homicide, and submitted a report to the Crown for charge assessment in June.
In a statement issued yesterday, Special Prosecutor Mark Jette concluded there is no reasonable likelihood of conviction because the Crown wouldn't be able to disprove self defence beyond a reasonable doubt.
Video of the Boyd incident by Andreas Bergen. released in 2012 by the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=207_FGF3wZk
Paul Boyd was a 39-year-old animator who suffered from bipolar disorder. He was described as not having taken his medication when he was shot, and killed during a confrontation with police on South Granville Street, near the intersection of 15th Avenue, on August 13, 2007. He was hit by eight of nine bullets fired by Vancouver police Constable Lee Chipperfield. Boyd, a large man, had a bike chain when police confronted him. It is now reported that he was "armed," or, as this Province item puts it, "brandishing" the bike chain. At the time of the incident, he was reported to have been swinging the chain, and that he had hit an officer with the chain, as this CTV News item reports.
At the time there was speculation -- un-proveable -- that responding police officers may have believed they were dealing with a homeless drug addict, and that may have influenced how they handled the confrontation.
The B,C. Criminal Justice Branch, and several earlier investigations had previously cleared Constable Chipperfield of any wrongdoing, but in 2012 a 49-second cell phone video of the 2007 incident surfaced showing an unarmed Boyd on his hands and knees. The B.C. government had the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) re-investigate the case.
ASIRT executive director Clifton Purvis saw "reasonable and probable grounds" to believe Chipperfield committed homicide, and submitted a report to the Crown for charge assessment in June.
In a statement issued yesterday, Special Prosecutor Mark Jette concluded there is no reasonable likelihood of conviction because the Crown wouldn't be able to disprove self defence beyond a reasonable doubt.
"there is no substantial likelihood of conviction on a criminal charge. (It) is his assessment that the evidence is not sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the shooting of Mr. Boyd constitutes a culpable homicide within the meaning of the Criminal Code of Canada."
Video of the Boyd incident by Andreas Bergen. released in 2012 by the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=207_FGF3wZk
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