James Forcillo gets bail extension for appeal
Previous bail conditions for Const. James Forcillo were set to expire on Sunday, a day before the officer is scheduled to appeal his conviction for the attempted murder of Sammy Yatim. But a bail extension document now states the appeal process will contain a "fresh evidence phase" and says Forcillo may remain free either until the day before that hearing or until April 2, 2018, whichever comes first. Forcillo was sentenced to six years behind bars, a year more than the mandatory minimum, for shooting Yatim multiple times in 2013. The officer is asking the appeal court to substitute a not-guilty verdict or order a new trial in his case. He is also seeking a declaration that the mandatory minimum sentence for attempted murder is unconstitutional, and wants to be granted a suspended sentence. Barring that, he wants his sentence reduced to the minimum five years.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/canada/...bail-extension
Const. James Forcillo charged with breaching bail conditions
According to documents filed in court Wednesday, the officer is accused of failing to comply with a number of the conditions of his bail on Tuesday. The alleged breaches are failing to: reside with his surety at his Vaughan address; notify Ontario’s police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), of any change in address; and remain in his residence at all times except under special circumstances, such as a medical emergency.
https://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2...hing-bail.html
Court documents filed in advance of a now-cancelled hearing at the Ontario Court of Appeal on Thursday detail a change in personal circumstances — a divorce, followed by a pending remarriage — that led to Const. James Forcillo’s arrest early Wednesday. A source with knowledge of the alleged breach says Forcillo was arrested after he was found at his fiancée’s home, counter to his bail conditions. Those conditions had included that he continue to live with his ex-wife, surety and mother of his two children, Irina Ratushnyak. When Forcillo and Ratushnyak divorced in July, Sara Balderrama and the officer got engaged. She is now renting an apartment on Bathurst St. and put Forcillo and his children on the tenancy agreement, “in the event that the court grants the variation to the bail he is seeking,” the affidavit states. Forcillo had been seeking to have Balderrama named as a surety, in addition to Ratushnyak and her parents. “Irina and I maintain a good relationship and continue to parent our children together. However, it has been very difficult to reside together since our separation, as we are unable to move on with our lives,” Forcillo wrote in his affidavit in support of the bail condition change. In her own affidavit, Ratushnyak, Forcillo’s ex-wife, states that she has also started a new relationship and supports having Forcillo move in with his new fiancée. She has a positive relationship with Balderrama, though she says in her affidavit, “we are not close.” According to court documents filed Wednesday, Forcillo’s alleged breaches are failing to: reside with his surety at his Vaughan address; notify Ontario’s police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), of any change in address; and remain in his residence at all times except under special circumstances, such as a medical emergency. Forcillo is currently in the midst of appealing his attempted murder conviction, as well as the six-year prison sentence handed down in connection to Yatim’s shooting death on a Toronto streetcar in July 2013.
https://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2...is-arrest.html
James Forcillo facing additional charges
The Toronto police officer convicted of attempted murder in the shooting death of a teen on a TTC streetcar in 2013 now faces additional charges of perjury and attempting to obstruct justice. Const. James Forcillo, 34, was charged last month for breaching his bail conditions when he was found living with his fiancée, Sara Balderrama, though he was supposed to be under house arrest at a different location. It’s unclear what prompted the additional charges, announced Thursday, but a news release from Toronto police said “after receiving information from the Special Investigations Unit, Toronto Police Service Professional Standards began a separate investigation.” Forcillo has been in custody since Nov. 15. He will appear in court on Dec. 29.
<https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/12/21/const-james-forcillo-facing-additional-charges.html>
