Toxicologist testifies at inquest about whether Gray had drugs in system

Police and witnesses who interacted with Myles Gray the day he died in August of 2015 have told an inquest he appeared to be drunk or on drugs that day, but a toxicologist says that wasn't the case.

Dr. Aaron Shapiro, associate scientific director of the BC Toxicology Centre, told a coroner's inquest into Gray's death the 33-year-old had no alcohol or psychedelic drugs in his system.

"Although there were some preliminary indications of certain things, the amounts were so small that they didn't count," said Ian Donaldson, a lawyer for the Gray family.

Several people phoned 911 that day to report Gray acting erratically and threatening people.

He died after a violent altercation with seven Vancouver police officers in a residential yard just east of Boundary Road.

Shapiro said the toxicology report showed Gray had cannabis in his system -- but could not say whether he had consumed it 30 minutes or 30 days prior to his death, or what quantity he may have consumed.

Shapiro prepared a new toxicology report specifically for the inquest.

It differed from a 2016 toxicology report in only one major aspect.

The 2016 report listed Mitragynine, which is found in a psychoactive plant called kratom and is known to be a recreational drug.

Shapiro testified that in his analysis, Mitragynine was not present in any significant quantities.

The inquest has heard Gray was a bodybuilder and some of the officers have testified that he had "superhuman" strength.

Shapiro said steroids were not found in Gray's system -- but he cautioned the lab only tested for some types of steroids.

"It's not that you can prove something wasn't there," said Donaldson. "But there's absolutely no evidence anything was there that would potentially affect his cause of death or even his behaviour."

The inquest has heard Gray had his hands cuffed behind his back, his legs bound and several VPD officers holding him down when he stopped breathing.

The civilian head of the Independent Investigations Office, BC's police watchdog, forwarded a file to Crown for consideration of manslaughter, aggravated assault and assault causing bodily harm against some of the officers involved.

The BC Prosecution Service did not bring any criminal charges -- but in announcing the decision admonished the officers for providing "incomplete" and "inconsistent" accounts of what happened to Myles Gray.