A retired judge will decide if three Thunder Bay police officers will face a disciplinary hearing over how the investigation into the 2015 death of Stacey DeBungee was handled.
Retired judge Lee Ferrier agreed this week to hear an application by the Thunder Bay Police Services Board to have the deadline to serve notice of a hearing to the three officers extended.
That hearing will take place on Sept. 21.
At issue is the length of the investigation into the conduct of the three officers.
The investigation into the death of DeBungee, whose body was found in the McIntyre River in 2015, was the subject of a review by Ontario’s Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD).
The review found grounds for Police Services Act charges of neglect of duty against the three officers.
Under Ontario law, any officers subject to an investigation must be served notice of a disciplinary hearing within six months of a complaint being referred to a police service.
That deadline has since passed; the local police services board was scheduled to meet in April to determine if the officers would face a hearing, but that meeting was cancelled.
Now, the board is applying for an extension on the six-month period, which will be the subject of the hearing with Ferrier in a Thunder Bay court.
An OIPRD spokesperson told CBC News that if Ferrier rules the delay was unreasonable, there would be no disciplinary hearing.
In that case, the OIPRD would seek a judicial review, to ensure the ruling complies with the law, a spokesperson said.