Taser victim had no drugs or alcohol in system, lawyer says
Last Updated: Friday, October 26, 2007 | 5:29 PM PT
CBC News
Related
Internal Links
- DOCUMENT: Transportation Canada's document into the Robert Dziekanski incident (in pdf)
- AUDIO: Karen Tankard reports for CBC Radio (Runs 1:11)
- AUDIO: Zofia Cisowski is happy her son's drug and alcohol test results were negative (Runs 4:05)
- AUDIO: Lawyer Walter Kosteckyj says Dziekanski’s negative drug results were expected (Runs 1:22)
- YOUR VIEW: What has been your experience at YVR?
- Tasered man's cause of death not determined in autopsy
- Polish consul general in Vancouver demands answers for death
- 'I was waiting for my beautiful boy,' mom of Taser victim says
Test results show Robert Dziekanski had no drugs or alcohol in his system when he died minutes after police subdued him with a Taser on Oct. 13, his family's lawyer said Friday.
Dziekanski died at Vancouver International Airport four minutes after police hit him at least twice with a Taser.
Zofia Cisowski with her son Robert Dziekanski in Poland, before she immigrated to Canada.
(Global)
Lawyer Walter Kosteckyj told CBC News he learned the results of drug and alcohol tests from the coroner's office Friday morning.
"I expected them to come back negative," Kosteckyj said.
"He had been in a restricted area where you couldn't get access to food or water. It's certainly consistent with the fact that there was nothing in his luggage that the police found that would indicate there was any form of drugs or alcohol abuse."
Dziekanski's mother, Zofia Cisowski, said the toxicology results are no surprise.
"I'm so happy for the result because no drugs, no alcohol on him, and I'm so happy," Cisowski said.
Final hours still unclear
An autopsy last week failed to determine what caused Dziekanski's death. Those results concluded there was no trauma, disease or any other obvious cause.
It is unclear what happened after Dziekanski's arrival on a lengthy flight from Europe on Oct. 13. It is known that he spent about 10 hours at the airport waiting to meet his mother. The two never connected.
Cisowski said her son spoke no English and had never travelled by plane before. She said no one at the airport would help her find her son when she went to pick him up.
Witnesses say that around 1 a.m. on Oct. 14, Dziekanski became agitated and began throwing computer equipment around in the customs area of the airport.
Videotape from witnesses of the incident shows him calling for help in Polish shortly before he was jolted with the Taser by police.
On Thursday, the government of Poland sent a diplomatic note to Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier demanding an explanation.
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Zofia Cisowski with her son Robert Dziekanski in Poland, before she immigrated to Canada.
