Villanueva inquest resumes despite many missing witnesses

A highly anticipated coroner's inquest into the police shooting death of a Montreal teen resumed Monday afternoon after several hours delay caused by no-show witnesses.

The inquest is probing the death of Fredy Villanueva, 18, who was shot dead last August during an altercation with Montreal police officers.

The coroner's inquest got off to a rocky start Monday morning when nine of 15 interested parties scheduled to testify didn't show up.

Quebec Court Judge Robert Sansfaçon, who is acting as coroner in this case, was forced to postpone the hearing until 2 p.m. to figure out who exactly was participating in the inquest.

More than 40 witnesses and groups are scheduled to appear over the next eight days, but victims and Villanueva's family have said they won't take part in the inquest unless they're forced to, because the government won't cover legal fees for victims and their relatives.

Two other men — Denis Meas, 18, and Jeffrey Sagor Météllus, 20 — were also shot the same night as Villanueva, but survived their injuries.

Meas, Metellus and Dany Villanueva (Fredy's brother) said they will testify under subpoena, but told the court they should no longer be considered "interested parties" in the inquest, which means they won't have the right to cross-examine or call their own witnesses.

Witnesses, intervenors still want large-scale public inquiry

François Daviault, a lawyer representing the coroner's office, told Sansfaçon he was concerned by the absence of the family and the other victims in the case.

"Not only must justice be served, but it must [be] seen to be served," Daviault told Sansfaçon.

"What will be the public's impression if the three people who are the most implicated in this aren't present because they can't afford to pay?"

Villanueva's mother Lillian was among the interested parties set to testify Monday but couldn’t because she is suffering from major depression, said her lawyer, Pierre Panaccio, who presented a doctor's note for his client.

Other intervenors are upset about the mandate and scope of the coroner's inquest, which they say won't explore issues of racial profiling, and police relations with Montreal North residents.

Many people and groups linked to the case indicated last week they would boycott the inquiry, despite obtaining intervenor status, as a way to protest the investigation.

Some community groups rallied Monday afternoon in a Montreal North park, demanding a full public inquiry instead of the coroner's inquest.

"We believe it's not relieving the real problems of Montreal North," said Will Prosper, a member of community group Montreal-Nord Republik. "You have to approach the problem with police brutality, racial profiling, and the social conditions of this neighbourhood."

Quebec's refusal to call a full-blown public inquiry is insulting to many intervenors, said Rachad Antonius, a sociology professor at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQÀM).

"Those people from Montreal North who were involved in the event count as much as any other Quebecer and any other Canadian, and from that point of view, the importance given to the event and to understanding what happened is crucial to sending a message that these are citizens with their full rights, like everybody else," he told CBC News.

The coroner's inquest was ordered after prosecutors said there would be no charges against the officer who shot Villanueva. A police inquiry into the shooting — conducted by the Sûreté du Québec, as per provincial policy — determined the officer who fired at the teen acted with justified force, given the circumstances.

The police officers involved in the shooting, Jean-Loup Lapointe and Stéphanie Pilotte, are being represented by lawyers hired by the city of Montreal. There is a publication ban on photos and videos showing Lapointe and Pilotte.