Paul Boyd (animator)

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Paul Boyd
Born
Paul G. Boyd

(1967-09-30)September 30, 1967
Pasadena, California, U.S.
DiedAugust 13, 2007(2007-08-13) (aged 39)
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
NationalityDual (US and Canada)
Years active1992–2007
Known forEd, Edd, and Eddy (title sequence)
¡Mucha Lucha!
Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman

Paul G. Boyd

Annie Award[2]
in 2001.

Early history

Boyd was born September 30, 1967, in Pasadena, California. He grew up in the west side of Vancouver, British Columbia, and attended Lord Byng Secondary School. He attended University of British Columbia and Concordia University in Montreal.[3] Before joining a.k.a. Cartoon, he showed an unusual gift for expression in the visual arts in his youth. For the last 15 years of his life, he had a successful career as an animator, and was employed by a number of animation studios in Vancouver. He was passionate about his work and it was highly regarded.[citation needed]

Career

According to the animation industry website

television series ¡Mucha Lucha! An incomplete list of his animation credits can be found on IMDb.[4] During the 1990s he taught many young animators at the Vancouver Film School. A prize in his honour for the top student in Classical Animation at the Vancouver Film School is funded by his family and presented three times per year. At the time of Boyd's death he was working at the Global Mechanic studio. His last completed work was on two animated advertisements for the Alberta Government.[5][6]

Illness and killing

While in his 20s, Boyd was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, an illness for which he received constant and usually effective treatment. He lived with this illness for almost 20 years.[7] He was shot and killed on August 13, 2007, by a police officer, Lee Chipperfield, in Vancouver. A video recorded by tourists showed Boyd being shot nine times after wielding what was believed to be a bicycle chain, but other witnesses state it was a chain of paperclips, at officers who came to respond to a disturbance involving him. The ninth shot that struck Boyd was fired as he was on the ground, resembling an execution. Chipperfield had to return to work the next day. The use of force was criticized by many of Boyd's colleagues and relatives.[citation needed]

Investigation

The fatal shooting incident was investigated by the Vancouver Police Department and their findings passed on to the Criminal Justice Branch of BC which decided not to prosecute Chipperfield.

Bill Lewinski, who suggested that Chipperfield could have been suffering from "inattentional blindness."[10]

In May 2012, a video captured by a tourist's video camera surfaced. In the video, which starts just as a burst of two shots was fired (the 7th and 8th shots), Boyd is seen crawling on the road, unarmed. In the time between the eighth and ninth (fatal) shot, an officer is seen standing near Boyd handling an object that analysis of the video showed to be a chain and throwing it to one side thus providing evidence that Boyd was unarmed at the time the fatal shot was fired. David Eby, executive director of the B. C. Civil Liberties Association, said that the video made it clear that Boyd did not pose a threat to anyone at the time the fatal bullet was fired. In light of the new evidence, an independent investigative agency, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), was asked by the Attorney General of British Columbia to review the case with the new video in consideration.[11]

In a June 25, 2013, media statement, the Criminal Justice Branch announced that ASIRT had completed its investigation and on June 24, 2013, the Assistant Deputy Attorney General, M. Joyce DeWitt-Van Oosten, had appointed a prominent Vancouver lawyer, Mark Jetté, as special prosecutor to decide on the basis of ASIRT's report and further investigation, if necessary, if charges would be laid against any of the officers involved in the incident. If a decision were made to prosecute then Mr. Jetté would conduct the prosecution. Ms DeWitt-Van Oosten concluded that it was necessary to appoint a Special Prosecutor to avoid any potential for real or perceived improper influence in the administration of criminal justice in reviewing the ASIRT report.[12] The BCCLA applauded the B.C. government for their June 2013 decision to appoint a Special Prosecutor to reconsider laying charges in the Boyd case.[13] (In December 2010, following the conclusion of the Coroner's Inquest, the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association had called for a Special Prosecutor to be appointed but this request was rejected at that time).

On October 28, 2013, the Criminal Justice Branch announced that the special prosecutor had decided that no charges would be laid against Chipperfield in this case. Because the intent of Chipperfield's actions, i.e. to shoot and kill Boyd, was not in dispute the only charge that would have been appropriate was one of

second degree murder. However, the prosecutor reasoned that the defense of self-defense would likely succeed because of the requirement that the prosecution establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Chipperfield knew he was shooting an unarmed and severely wounded man who did not pose a threat of death or serious injury to Chipperfield or others.[14] Some of the police officers and civilian witnesses present at the time of the fatal shot testified that Boyd was crawling at the time he was killed and did not present a threat to any other person. Others testified that although he was crawling he did present a threat, and still others said that he was walking and upright up until the final shot. There was similar differing testimony regarding whether or not he was armed. While the video may support some of these testimonies more than others, as a whole they could be used by the defence to attempt to establish that a reasonable person
could believe that Boyd posed a threat at the time of his death.

Memorial

The Ed, Edd, and Eddy episode, May I Have This Ed? / Look Before You Ed!, was dedicated in Boyd's memory, and features a memorial at the end of the episode stating, Paul Boyd 1967-2007. We miss you, you big lug!.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Paul G Boyd, Born 09/30/1967 in California". CaliforniaBirthIndex.org. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  2. ^ "29th Annie Awards"
  3. ^ Mulgrew, Ian (30 May 2012). "He wasn't a danger to anyone ... charges should be laid: Deborah, Paul Boyd's sister". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  4. ^ Animation list at iMDB
  5. ^ "Born To Move"
  6. ^ "Born To Eat"
  7. ^ "paul boyd animator bipolar disorder and death". May 2013.
  8. ^ ""Criminal Justice Branch media release March 2010"" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2013-04-27.
  9. ^ "Official Findings Coroner's Inquest Dec 2010"
  10. ^ "Police Complaint Commissioner's report March 2012"
  11. ^ Strachan, Yukio. "B.C. cop shoots and kills mentally ill man while he crawls". Digital Journal. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  12. ^ "Media Statement re Special Prosecutor appointment"
  13. ^ "Response from the BCCLA" Archived 2013-06-28 at archive.today
  14. ^ "Criminal Justice Branch media statement, October 28, 2013"

External links

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