Crown lawyers will have to testify at a public inquiry into the freezing death of a Vancouver man.
The Supreme Court of Canada has refused to hear their appeal of an order requiring them to explain why they decided repeatedly not to charge police in the death of Frank Paul.
As usual, the justices gave no reasons for their decision.
Paul died in December 1998 after a police officer dumped him in an alley, soaking wet, after he'd been released from a drunk tank.
A decade later, retired judge William Davies, who is leading an inquiry into the death, ruled that Crown lawyers had to explain their repeated decisions not to lay charges.
The B.C. Criminal Justice Branch disagreed, saying the principle of prosecutorial independence gives Crown lawyers constitutional protection against having to justify their decisions.
Davies rejected that argument and the courts backed him.
The British Columbia Court of Appeal ruled last July that the prosecutors must be publicly accountable because the inquiry into Paul's death was specifically asked to look at the role of the Criminal Justice Branch.
First Nations groups in British Columbia fought for years for inquiry into Paul's death, saying the public has a right to know why two officers involved with him before he died were never charged.
Last spring, Davies released a highly critical report of the circumstances surrounding Paul's death, saying he was a victim of indifference and callousness who died cold and alone.
Davies also lashed out at the Vancouver Police Department, saying a botched investigation by police investigating themselves was part of a flawed system that failed Paul.
