A preliminary inquest into the death of a Toronto man in Grenada and the five police officers accused of beating him has begun.

Public Prosecution director Christopher Nelson said 16 witnesses were expected to testify next week including the wife of victim, Oscar Bartholomew.

Lawyers for the five policemen failed in their bid to have the investigation delayed as part of their request for a coroner inquest.

Nelson said Friday that two pathologists already determined Bartholomew's cause of death.

Bartholomew's family says the 39-year-old was beaten into a coma on Boxing Day after he hugged a plainclothes policewoman he'd mistaken for a friend.

He died a day later in hospital, and the officers have been charged with manslaughter.

The charged officers, all constables, are Edward Gibson, Shaun Ganness, Roddy Felix, Kenton Hazzard and Wendell Sylvester.

Bartholomew's friends and family have expressed outrage the officers weren't charged with murder.

Bartholomew lived in Toronto but was in his native Grenada to visit family over the holidays.

With files from The Canadian Press