IIO conducting review of its own 2012 Starlight Casino investigation

A probe by British Columbia’s Independent Investigations Office (IIO) into the November 2012 shooting at the Starlight Casino in New Westminster is under scrutiny.

In 2014, Cst. Jordan MacWilliams was charged in the death of Mehrdad Bayami, following an investigation by the IIO into the shooting.

But last year, the Criminal Justice Branch (CJB) said after a careful review of the case – including receiving more information from the IIO – they determined the “evidence no longer satisfies its charge approval standard for the continued prosecution” of MacWilliams, and stayed the charges.

Now the IIO is announcing a review, by its own chief of investigation and two team leaders – none of whom were involved in the original file.

“There is going to be an entirely new review of how we handled this investigation,” said Martin Youssef, the IIO’s Acting Public Accountability Director.

“There’s no shame in this. This is an opportunity for us to identify areas where we can improve and enhance our investigative process.”

If the review finds serious mistakes, the IIO’s Civilian Director can direct an outside monitor to investigate further.

But Tom Stamatakis, the President of the BC Police Association, says the IIO shouldn’t be allowed to essentially self-investigate.

“The entire police community in this province, along with many other stakeholder groups, have spent a tremendous amount of time creating mechanisms for independent oversight of police incidents and police issues,” he said.

“It makes no sense to me that we would abandon all of that when it comes to a review of the IIO investigation.”

– With files from John Daly