The Crown has decided not to charge Vancouver police officers in the Taser-shooting death of 44-year-old Robert Bagnell in June 2004.



Robert Bagnell
The Crown says it made that decision because there wasn't a substantial likelihood of conviction.

Five police officers had been called to Bagnell's rooming house on Granville Street where the 44-year-old drug addict had locked himself in a bathroom.

There was an altercation, and two of the officers fired their Taser guns at Bagnell, who was lying on the floor. His heart stopped and he died while being handcuffed.

The Bagnell family's lawyer, Cameron Ward, says they've been waiting too long for answers.

"On behalf of the family, I'm very, very troubled and disappointed by the period of time that has elapsed, and the fact that it took some 18 months to make a decision in these circumstances."

Ward also says the Crown based its decision on an investigation the police undertook into the officers' actions.

"The circumstances also raise a concern here in British Columbia. Whenever you have police investigating themselves and then providing the results of the investigation to Crown counsel, there's a certain skepticism about the validity of the whole process."

Now Ward says the family is waiting for the mandatory coroner's inquest. However, no date has yet been set.