Ontario Coroner Dr. David Cameron adjourned the inquest into Regis Korchinski-Paquet’s death on Oct. 29, stopping proceedings before lawyers were due to make closing submissions and suggest jury recommendations, The Canadian Press reported.
Cameron said the hearing would remain adjourned “until further notice,” according to the report. He cited further investigative work, but The Canadian Press did not describe its subject or report when the hearing might resume.
Evidence ended Oct. 28, and lawyers for about a dozen parties were scheduled to address the jury the following day, The Canadian Press reported. Ontario had scheduled the inquest to begin Oct. 13 and expected it to last 14 days, with about 15 witnesses, according to the province’s announcement.
Ontario describes an inquest as a public hearing that informs people about the circumstances of a death. Its five-member jury may recommend ways to prevent further deaths but cannot assign legal responsibility or blame.
Korchinski-Paquet, 29, died on May 27, 2020, after falling from the balcony of a 24th-floor Toronto apartment, according to the Special Investigations Unit (SIU). In a separate investigation, the SIU found that she climbed over the railing and tried to move along the outer ledge toward a neighboring balcony before she fell. The SIU director concluded there were no reasonable grounds to believe any officer committed a criminal offense in connection with her death. That finding came from the SIU investigation, not the coroner’s inquest.
