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“We are looking forward to moving the case forward in court,” Const. Forcillo’s high-profile lawyer, Peter Brauti, told reporters. “It’s very early days to judge this case… That’s been one of the difficulties and the challenge in this case, is that there’s a lot of people who have rushed to judgment without all of the information.”

Mr. Brauti said his client was in a “very sombre mood,” adding “when you’ve been involved in the loss of life, the gravity of it is incredible.”

Mr. McCormack said the charges — rare for an on-duty officer — have sent shockwaves through the Toronto force. The police association is paying the legal fees of Const. Forcillo, a six-year member of the Toronto Police Service.

While bail applications in murder cases typically require several days of advance notice before being heard in Superior Court, Const. Forcillo’s case was expedited given the unusual circumstances, Mr. Brauti said.

“This is a case where Mr. Forcillo didn’t ask to be in front of that streetcar; he was on duty and he had a legal obligation to be there,” Mr. Brauti said. “Now, we’ll have a trial about whether the decisions were right or wrong.”

Mr. Yatim’s family was scheduled to hold a news conference Wednesday to discuss the teenager’s death. In a statement this week, they said they were relieved at the murder charge but hopeful the SIU would also examine the actions of supervising officers.

“Moving forward we expect complete transparency and accountability,” the family wrote. “We want to work now to ensure that Sammy’s blood wasn’t wasted and to prevent any other families from enduring such a tragedy.”

Earlier Tuesday, Const. Forcillo made a brief appearance at the Old City Hall courthouse, where a judge set a Sept. 30 date for a closed judicial pretrial.

The case could ultimately go to trial as early as next fall, lawyers say.

National Post, with files from The Canadian Press