Toronto cop committed to trial on second-degree murder in streetcar death

TORONTO – A Toronto police officer has been committed to stand trial on a charge of second-degree murder in the shooting death of a teenager on a Toronto streetcar last summer.

Const. James Forcillo is expected to go to trial next year in the death of 18-year-old Sammy Yatim.

Forcillo’s preliminary inquiry, which is held to determine if there is enough evidence to go to trial, concluded today, though all of the evidence heard by Judge Richard LeDressay is under publication ban.

The standard for committing someone to trial after a preliminary inquiry is whether there is evidence by which a reasonable, properly instructed jury could convict them — different than the guilty beyond a reasonable doubt standard at trial.

Yatim was shot and killed on an empty streetcar on July 27, 2013 — an incident captured on surveillance and cellphone video, on which nine shots can be heard following shouted commands to drop a knife.

Forcillo, who is free on $510,000 bail, was suspended with pay, but quietly returned to active duty at Toronto Crimestoppers in an administrative role in February.