An inquest into the death of Otto Vass, who died after a violent confrontation with police six years ago, began Monday amid controversy that the man's family will not be represented.

The 55-year-old man died following a struggle with officers outside a west-end Toronto convenience store on Aug. 9, 2000.

Otta Vass, 55, died after a violent confrontation with police. An inquest began on Monday, but will not hear from a group asked by Vass's relatives to represent their point of view.
(CBC)

His widow said she's under too much stress to represent herself at the hearing, but asked a group to represent her family.

However, the activist group, called the Committee for Justice for Otto Vass, was denied standing because the coroner ruled it didn't meet requirements to take part.

Without representation from the family, the truth will not come out about what happened to Vass, claims Peter Rosenthal, a lawyer representing the group.

"We are going to have a very unbalanced inquest where there won't be anyone really probing the police," said Rosenthal.

He believes the inquest will be one-sided and fail to examine the role officers played in Vass's death because there will be many lawyers representing police, but none presenting the family's point of view.

As the inquest began Monday morning, Rosenthal made a final request for the presiding coroner, Dr. William Lucas, to reconsider giving him standing. He was denied.

Lucas called it an insult to the process that Rosenthal accused the inquest of being unbalanced.

The family has maintained that officers used excessive force and wants their role examined.

"This was in fact a beating not a battle," said his son, Attila.

In 2003, four Toronto police officers were found not guilty of manslaughter charges in connection with the case.

During the criminal trial, lawyers representing the police presented Vass as a man with a history of violent, even psychotic behaviour.

The court heard that Vass had struggled with manic depression and schizophrenia for decades.

Prosecutors argued during the trial that Vass was beaten excessively and died of a fat embolism caused by the beating of his legs.

Police officers were called to a 7-Eleven convenience store on College Street near Lansdowne Avenue after receiving a call about a confrontation between Vass and several teenagers.