Bail revoked for officer convicted in shooting
A Toronto police officer found guilty of attempted murder in the fatal shooting of a teen on an empty streetcar four years ago has had his bail revoked as he appeals his conviction.
Const. James Forcillo was sentenced to six years in prison last year for his role in the shooting of Sammy Yatim, an incident that set off a wave of public outrage after video of what happened went viral. The officer had been out on bail, living under house arrest, as he appealed his conviction but was arrested earlier this month and charged with breaching the conditions of his bail. Police say Forcillo failed to live with his surety, or notify authorities of a change of address.
At a brief court hearing for the officer on Thursday, a Crown lawyer told a justice of the peace that Forcillo’s bail had been revoked by the Ontario Court of Appeal on Monday at prosecutors’ request.
Forcillo will remain in custody at a Toronto-area jail while his bail-breach charge of failing to comply with recognizance is before the courts. Once the matter is dealt with, Forcillo will most likely be transferred to prison to begin serving his six-year sentence, his lawyer Michael Lacy said.
The officer’s appeal is ongoing, Lacy said, with issues concerning “fresh evidence” that could result in a court date next year.
Forcillo’s breach of bail conditions centred around issues with where he was living, documents in the Crown’s bail-revocation application show.
The officer had been ordered, as a condition of his bail, to live with his now ex-wife.
In early November, he applied to have the conditions changed so he could live with his new fiancee, Sara Balderrama, at an apartment in north Toronto, court records show.
Before Forcillo’s application could be considered in court, police investigators went to Balderrama’s apartment and found Forcillo there, court documents show.
Forcillo told the investigators that his living arrangement was “only temporary,” the records show.
Staff at the apartment building said it was Forcillo, not Balderrama who had arranged for the rental of the apartment and signed the lease, the documents show.