A lawsuit against a Delta police officer in the 2012 death of a man following an armed standoff with police has been dismissed.
Nousha Bayrami launched the lawsuit against Const. Jordan MacWilliams last year accusing the officer of gross negligence and malicious misconduct in the death of her father, Mehrdad Bayrami, 48, in November 2012.
The lawsuit was dismissed without costs earlier this month after an application filed in B.C. Supreme Court on behalf of MacWilliams and the Corporation of Delta.
MacWilliams, who was a member of the Municipal Integrated Emergency Response Team at the time, responded to the Starlight Casino around 6 a.m. on Nov. 8, 2012 after calls about a domestic disturbance and an armed man. The standoff lasted for five hours before the shooting occurred.
The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) launched an investigation following the shooting and Bayrami's death 10 days later. In 2013, chief civilian director Richard Rosenthal forwarded a report to Crown counsel. As a result of the report, last October the Crown announced a second-degree murder charge against MacWilliams.
However, the charge was dropped this summer.
Following the stay of proceedings in the case, the Delta Police Association said it will push for a provincial government review into the investigation.
A coroner’s inquest into Bayrami’s death is scheduled to start in early February. An inquest is mandatory following the death of an individual under the care or control of a police officer, or in police lock-up.
Inquests are formal court proceedings held to publicly review the circumstances of a death.
