A coroner’s inquest will probe the events that lead to the death of a 33-year-old man in a Prince Albert police detention cell in 2021. Saul Laliberte was found unresponsive in his cell at the Prince Albert police station on Nov. 7, 2021. He was taken to Victoria Hospital by paramedics, where he was later pronounced dead. Under provincial law, an inquest is required anytime a person dies in a correctional facility, unless the chief coroner is satisfied the death was entirely due to natural causes and not preventable. The inquest, which begins on Oct. 26 in Prince Albert, will detail the circumstances leading up to Laliberte’s death, potentially including a report from a pathologist on the suspected cause of death, and testimony from the paramedics and police officers who were responsible for his care at the time. It’s scheduled to go until Oct.30. In 2023, criminal charges were laid against one of the Prince Albert police officers on duty that night. Sgt. Tyson Morash was charged with criminal negligence causing death, but the proceedings were later stayed by the Crown. In a stay of proceedings, prosecutors opt to stop pursuing the charge. This sometimes happens if prosecutors don’t foresee a reasonable likelihood of conviction. Laliberte was the second person in under a year to die in a police detention cell under Morash’s watch. Jordan Norfield died in hospital after spending the night in police detention on Dec. 1, 2020. A 2023 inquest into the death heard Norfield began having seizures in his cell around 1:30 a.m. and didn’t receive any medical attention until paramedics arrived at 9 a.m. to take him for a scheduled hospital visit. In that inquest, Morash expressed regret for not calling the ambulance sooner. “It was the wrong decision, without a doubt,” he testified. RELATED: Prince Albert police officer criminally charged in man’s death 2 years later, inmate shares firsthand account of events leading up to deadly prison riot Sask. family sees ‘closure’ as inquest wraps-up
