Const. James Forcillo, charged with second-degree murder in the shooting of Sammy Yatim , surrendered Tuesday morning. In another unusual twist in the landmark case, he had a bail hearing scheduled by the afternoon.

“Amazing. The quickest bail hearing I’ve ever seen,” says criminal defence lawyer Leora Shemesh. “He’s a police officer and I guess that according to this city, he’s entitled to special treatment.”

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Bail hearings in murder cases must be heard in the Superior Court of Justice. A Crown can ask for up to three days to prepare for a bail hearing, and may be granted more time with the co-operation of the defence.

“A regular accused would be taken to Old City Hall, been detained, been in jail and would have to wait for a date in the Superior Court to have his bail hearing. But in this case they sort of bypassed or took the VIP line to the Superior Court,” says Shemesh.

“There is a special procedure in place for police officers, and everybody knows that.”

Apart from it being announced in a press release, the manner in which Forcillo’s arrest was organized is fairly common, say legal experts.

The Special Investigations Unit announced the charge of second-degree murder on Monday and issued a warrant. Through his lawyer, an arrangement was reached for Forcillo to surrender himself Tuesday at an undisclosed location.

Forcillo’s lawyer, Peter Brauti, says he spent the 24 hours prior to the hearing working with the Crown attorney to establish bail conditions for Forcillo. The officer was granted bail Tuesday afternoon.

“It is true that a person should be granted bail as soon as possible if they are no flight risk and no risk of reoffending, so there is nothing untoward about it. It’s just, other people with similarly serious charges would very rarely get it arranged so quickly,” says lawyer Peter Rosenthal, who represents the family of Michael Eligon , the 29-year-old man fatally shot by police last year.

Shemesh agrees Forcillo was a good candidate to get bail. However, she adds, the appearance of preferential treatment is of public concern. “It seems that there were a lot of special accommodations made for the officer to avoid finding himself in a cell.”

It is extremely rare for a police officer to be charged with second-degree murder for an on-duty incident. Forcillo is the second in the SIU’s history.

Yatim’s death sparked a probe by the Ontario ombudsman into police policies on de-escalating potentially violent situations. It also prompted Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair to order an internal review of use of force policies as they are applied to emotionally disturbed people.

What truly makes the Forcillo case unique among similar cases involving police killings is the graphic video evidence taken by bystanders and posted on YouTube, says Rosenthal.

“The only difference between this case and that of Michael Eligon is the video, which is absolutely compelling in indicating that the victim, Mr. Yatim, could not have posed an immediate threat,” he says.

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“Had there not been video evidence, charges would not have been laid,” says Darryl Davies, a Carleton University professor of criminology and criminal justice.

Defence lawyer Robb MacDonald compares the importance of the footage to the infamous video of Rodney King being beaten by police officers in Los Angeles in 1991.