The coroner's inquest into the police custody death of Normand Jeanveau came to a close Thursday evening at the Sudbury courthouse.
After four full days of 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 beliefs.
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 to do more research into excited delirium and positional asphyxia, a combination of which Pollanen determined was the cause of death. As well, he suggested developing a protocol for autopsies done on those who have died in police custody.
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.”
Check back to Northernlife.ca for more information as it becomes available, or read Tuesday's edition of Northern Life newspaper.
