The Abdirahman Abdi coroner’s inquest jury is now considering death-preventing recommendations. The livestream will resume when those are ready to be announced.
Groups at the Abdirahman Abdi coroner’s inquest agree the Somali-Canadian man’s 2016 death the day after his violent arrest by Ottawa police was an avoidable tragedy.
Where they diverge is on the mix of opportunities they say might have prevented the altercation from ever happening.
Some point to the medical system that treated the 38-year-old for mental illness. Others are more focused on the police officers. Still others expand the canvas to include challenges with bystanders the day of Abdi’s arrest.
“No one is on trial,” as presiding officer Dr. David Eden has reminded jurors every single day since the inquest launched on Nov. 18.
But the different ways the lead-up to Abdi’s death was framed during Monday’s closing arguments clarified the schisms previously hinted at during the month-long fact-finding process and set the scene for what comes next.
After taking in four weeks of evidence, including what Eden called “harrowing” video of Abdi’s arrest, a jury of five Ottawa-area civilians is now tasked with considering non-binding recommendations aimed at preventing similar deaths.
While issuing recommendations is optional, the jurors must decide the contentious question of whether Abdi’s mental illness will be factored into his cause of death.
“In considering your verdict, we now ask you to speak for Abdirahman Abdi,” Eden said before finishing his instructions to them on Monday.
‘Police involvement became inevitable’
Of the 11 parties who made closing comments, the Ottawa Police Service — the main focus of the inquest — spoke last.
During remarks citing “the missed opportunities that may have contributed to Mr. Abdi’s interaction with police,” police lawyer Katrina Bekkers reached back the furthest into the Abdi timeline.
The inquest has heard Abdi’s mental health deteriorated in the six months before July 2016. Psychiatrists treated Abdi and found by early July he was showing signs of schizophrenia.
He was discharged despite still showing residual signs of distress because he no longer met the conditions for involuntary admission, didn’t want to stay in hospital and had the strong support of his family.
“While there’s been significant analysis of the [police’s] role in the incident, it is equally important to recognize the systemic challenges in the mental health, health care and social services sectors that played a significant role in shaping Mr. Abdi’s tragic encounter with law enforcement,” Bekkers said.
“The failure to provide timely and appropriate care may have been a missed opportunity to intervene and prevent Mr. Abdi from reaching a point where police involvement became inevitable,” Bekkers added.
A lawyer for the psychiatrists pointed out that an expert who reviewed Abdi’s medical records told the inquest he believed Abdi’s doctors provided him with good care. There were beds available for Abdi, she added.
“Mr. Abdi’s death was, from their perspective, an unexpected outcome and an unexpected tragedy,” Meghan O’Brien said.
‘He was feeling scared’
Lawrence Greenspon, one of the lawyers representing Abdi’s family, zeroed in on two moments where he said officers failed to de-escalate the situation.
The first was the arrival on scene of former constable David Weir, who the inquest heard was set on immediately arresting Abdi over reported sexual assaults that morning. Weir suspected mental health was at play with Abdi.
The second was a moment only four minutes later, when Weir and Abdi were at a standstill, or what Greenspon called a “mini-break,” before Weir and Const. Daniel Montsion then wrestled Abdi to the ground and Montsion punched him in the head.
The lawyer for the Empowerment Council, which advocates for people struggling with mental illness, said that “from the beginning” Weir’s “singular focus” didn’t allow him to see “there was another side to this story, one that required empathy.”
Anita Szigeti asked the jury to see things from Abdi’s perspective.
“He was feeling scared, confused and in crisis,” she said. “Persons in crisis may react in unexpected ways to various commands. Their reactions won’t fall neatly into categories.”
As police lawyer Bekkers pointed out, hindsight benefits inquests by bringing to bear evolved and shifting attitudes — but also points out information that “may not have been available at the time the circumstances arose.”
Montsion and Weir, for example, had no idea who Abdi was, nor any insight into his mental health struggles beyond what they observed in their altogether brief encounter.
Call for improved ‘public awareness’
Maria Stevens, who alongside Alessandra Hollands is representing the Office of the Chief Coroner at the inquest, referenced even more paths not taken.
The inquest heard that after behaving erratically and causing a disturbance at a coffee shop, including assaulting some customers, Abdi was handled roughly by upset bystanders outside.
“Living with a mental illness, Mr. Abdi was doing his best to walk that journey,” Stevens said. “He came into contact with people at a time when he was experiencing symptoms of psychosis, and many of those [people] did not know how to de-escalate the situation without violence.”
Some did take care with Abdi, such as an off-duty paramedic and a psychiatrist who happened to be in the neighbourhood that morning, Stevens continued.
“He knew, but sadly no one else seemed to know,” she said. “This situation set into motion a fatal series of events where Mr. Abdi was beaten, chased, beaten more [and] deprived of oxygen [due to heart failure].”
Along with moves to enhance community-based mental health resources and police training, “recommendations to improve public awareness” will go some way, Stevens concluded.
WATCH / The death of Abdirahman Abdi: Here’s what you need to know:
WARNING: This video contains graphic content | Eight years after Abdirahman Abdi died following a violent struggle with Ottawa police, a coroner’s inquest is bringing the event back into the spotlight. Here’s what you need to know.
Parsing Abdi’s contentious ‘manner of death’
Monday’s closing arguments also allowed the parties to weigh in on Abdi’s manner of death and also one of the inquest’s most contentious disagreements: whether Abdi’s suspected schizophrenia should be cited as one of the factors in his medical cause of death.
All the parties who took a position on the former point agreed Abdi’s death should be classified as a homicide.
In the context of an inquest, that label does not impart any legal blame. It simply means “an injury which was non-accidentally inflicted by a person other than the deceased,” according to the set of definitions given to the jurors.
Parties were divided on whether, as suggested by an expert pathologist who testified at the inquest, Abdi’s mental illness should be added to the list of physical and emotional stressors that led to heart failure.
“It is unnecessarily very harmful to people who have mental health challenges such as schizophrenia,” Greenspon said.
Eden, too, spoke against including it, but stressed that jurors are not obligated to follow his advice as presiding officer.
“Your cause of death is your opinion of what the person died of, not what the person died with,” he said.
Both police and the lawyer speaking Monday for Montsion and Weir spoke in favour of factoring in Abdi’s mental illness.
Vanessa Garcia, who is helping represent the two officers, said the jurors should set aside “considerations about politics, perceptions or prejudice” and instead consider the “medico-legal task” at hand.
The jurors began their deliberations late on Monday. Those talks continue on Tuesday.