Family satisfied with outcome of inquest; still plan to sue

BY LAUREL MYERS

Family members of Normand Jeanveau, who lost his life while in police custody, are satisfied with the outcome of the coroner’s inquest into his death, but are still planning to file a lawsuit against the Greater Sudbury Police Service.

After four full days of hearing evidence and testimonies, the five-person jury ruled the pathologist’s given cause of death – a sudden unexpected death of an agitated man restrained in the prone position – was accurate, and that no excessive force was used by the police officers, despite the family’s impressions.

Jeanveau died on May 12, 2007 after an incident involving paramedics and police. Paramedics attended at Jeanveau’s mother’s Minnow Lake home after receiving a 9-1-1 call asking for medical assistance. The 37-year-old man was incoherent when they arrived, and became uncooperative, and eventually aggressive when they began assessing him. They called for police assistance.

An officer arrived and the struggle continued, resulting in pepper spray being deployed with little-to-no effect on Jeanveau. More officers were called in to assist and he was eventually taken to the ground and handcuffed, at which point he became motionless.

Dr. Michael Pollanen, chief forensic pathologist of Ontario, attributed the death to a combination of excited delirium and positional asphyxia.

“The jury ruled the death was accidental,” said Larry Castonguay, Jeanveau’s uncle. “That means we won. We never thought the police went in there to kill him but something went wrong and Norm died as a result.”

Castonguay said the family was satisfied with the outcome. "We put out some good points.”

However, he stated they still have “a lot of reason to pursue the issue with a lawsuit.”

The family held strong to its belief that Jeanveau had died as a result of excessive use of force by the police.

“We’re not accusing the police of killing him, we’re accusing (the constable) of doing something wrong in there,” he said, adding there are points about the entire incident that seem suspicious, points he said were overlooked.

In April, the provincial Special Investigations Unit found members of the Greater Sudbury Police Service (GSPS) had no involvement with Jeanveau’s death.

It was determined by the director of the SIU, James Cornish, that “there are no reasonable grounds to believe any GSPS officer committed a criminal offence in connection with Jeanveau’s death.”

After hearing the circumstances surrounding the man’s death, the jury was tasked with developing recommendations to prevent other deaths in similar circumstances.

Among those recommendations were two suggested by the Chief Forensic Pathologist of Ontario Dr. Michael Pollanen, who testified on the second day of the inquest.

The first was directed at the Canadian Institute of Health Research to do more research into excited delirium and positional asphyxia (or restraint in the prone position).

“Evidence indicated that these conditions are not currently well understood or differentiated in the scientific community,” the jury members wrote in their rationale. “The research...can be used by all policing agencies and emergency medical services to... more accurately identify and deal with persons exhibiting these condition.”

As well, Pollanen suggested developing a protocol for autopsies done on those who have died in police custody. The jury rationale for forwarding the recommendation was “to provide a wider and more consistent body of evidence to the various investigations.”

The jury also made recommendations to examine the on-board GPS systems in police vehicles, as well as provide emergency medical services with access to the police service’s information regarding call history and past behavioral history.

“Having this information would allow a better assessment of the situation en route to the call, and therefore, would allow improved safety for all involved,” the jury wrote.