Date set for pandemic-delayed inquest into 2016 in-custody death of B.C. teen
An inquest into the police-custody death of an 18-year-old Vancouver Island woman will be held in Port Alberni next week, nearly five years after she died.
Jocelyn George, an Indigenous mother of two young children, died in a Victoria hospital on June 24, 2016, just hours after being transferred from RCMP custody in Port Alberni.
The inquest was originally scheduled to be held last July but was put off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The independent office that examines all police-involved deaths in B.C. investigated George's death and issued a final report in January 2018.
It found George was being held in custody for public intoxication but her condition deteriorated and she was airlifted to Victoria, where she died of inflammation of the heart muscle.
The report found the death was linked to the use of toxic drugs and it cleared RCMP of any wrongdoing, but the BC Coroners Service says an inquest is mandatory because George died while in police custody.
Coroner Margaret Janzen and a jury will hear evidence from witnesses under oath to determine how and why George died, the coroners service says in a statement.
“The jury will have the opportunity to make recommendations aimed at preventing deaths under similar circumstances,” the statement says.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 14, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.