Ontario's top pathologist announces review of Soleiman Faqiri's death, family waits with 'guarded hope'
Dr. Michael Pollanen to weigh in, citing experience probing deaths in detention, research on torture
Ontario's chief forensic pathologist will step in to review the case of Soleiman Faqiri, a man with schizophrenia held behind bars for 11 days before being pepper-sprayed and shackled, who ultimately died in an altercation with guards in 2016 — and whose cause of death has for years been listed as "unascertained."
In a letter shared exclusively with CBC News, Dr. Michael Pollanen says he intends to provide his opinion on what killed the 30-year-old, drawing from an agreed brief of facts set to be produced ahead of the inquest into Faqiri's death. No date has been set for the inquest as yet.
The letter, dated May 18, cites not only Pollanen's role supervising and directing autopsies, but also his specific experience investigating deaths in detention and research into "restraint and torture."
"I believe it is important for me to review this case on the basis of my duties," says the letter addressed to the legal counsel for the Office of the Chief Coroner.
"I also have considerable experience with postmortem examinations of cases of death during detention, both in Canada and abroad. I have also conducted research and published my observations related to death in the setting of restraint and torture," he writes.
Case 'screams out' for fresh review, family's lawyer says
The move to review the case comes nearly six months after a jail sergeant fired from the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, Ont., said the combination of tactics used the day Faqiri died constituted a "triple threat" for asphyxiation — in other words, cutting off his air supply. Dawn Roselle was one of two jail managers fired following Faqiri's death.
Her account, as well as the details from John Thibeault, an inmate whose cell was directly across from Faqiri's in the segregation unit where he died and who spoke exclusively to CBC's The Fifth Estate in 2019, never factored into the original post-mortem report, the family's lawyers say.
WATCH | Inmate across the hall from Soleiman Faqiri breaks his silence to The Fifth Estate:
In 2019, the coroner's office reopened Faqiri's case after new evidence came to light. But last August, the Ontario Provincial Police concluded, as did an earlier investigation by Kawartha Lakes police, that no charges would be laid against any of those involved in Faqiri's death. Instead, the family said they were told by police no one would be held criminally responsible because it was impossible to know who dealt the fatal blow.
"The original 2017 post-mortem report doesn't factually reflect anything close to the reality of what happened to Soleiman Faqiri in the final 15 minutes of his life," Edward Marrocco, a lawyer for the family, told CBC News. Faqiri's family is suing the province for $14.3 million dollars over the "excessive force" they believe killed him.
More than 50 signs of blunt-impact trauma were recorded on Faqiri's body, including to his upper and lower extremities, shoulders, head, neck and back. But the report said none could be sufficiently deemed a cause of death.
That the spithood placed over Faqiri had filled with fluid, that the eye-witness reported seeing an officer place his knee onto Faqiri's neck, and that he was left in a stress position with his head covered, face-down with his hands behind his back — none of those details factored into the report, Marrocco said.
"Each one of these new facts on their own could be relevant to the cause of death. When they are combined like this, the case screams out for a comprehensive and fresh review."
Unclear if review could lead to criminal charges
Marrocco says he believes it's unusual for the province's chief forensic pathologist to step in on a case, but that in this case it's not at all a surprise.
"Reviews of post-mortem reports do happen if more evidence or information is presented in a case and are not unusual practice in complex cases," Stephanie Rae, spokesperson for the Ministry of the Solicitor General, told CBC News.
Exactly what prompted the review, whether it will factor in the accounts of the eye-witness and fired jail staff, or what new information might play a role in it, the spokesperson did not answer, saying the coroner's office cannot comment on specific cases.
As for whether a review or possible new cause of death could lead to a criminal probe being reopened, Rea said neither the coroner's office nor Ontario's Forensic Pathology office have "jurisdiction over the criminal justice system."
'Long overdue'
For Faqiri's family, news of a review of the death of their beloved "Soli" is an important step, but one his brother Yusuf says comes with some trepidation.
"I'll be honest with you; we are approaching this news with a guarded level of hope," said Yusuf Faqiri, who has become the spokesperson for his family in their grief.
"It should be my mom talking to you," he said. "But she's in so much pain."
"Let me be very clear that it is the first time that we're seeing a government institution that is taking a real, genuine and sincere look into what happened to the death of Soleiman," he said. "That's where that guarded hope comes from."
"But we certainly hope and believe that the truth will come out. And it's long overdue."
With files from Jessica Cheung