Deanna-Lee Charlie says last week's decision on the judicial review into the inquest of her father's death in an RCMP jail cell has finally brought closure for her and her family.

"I am very happy,” 24-year-old Charlie said Monday in a phone interview from Victoria, where she's studying nursing.

"On the day I found out, I was overjoyed, I was emotional, and I was happy with the judge's decision.”

Justice Ron Veale of the Yukon Supreme Court set aside the April 2010 verdict by the coroner's jury that found 43-year-old Raymond Silverfox died of natural causes on Dec. 2, 2008.

Silverfox died after spending 13 1/2 hours in the cell, vomiting repeatedly, defecating and urinating, though no assistance was provided by jail guards or police officers until Silverfox was unconscious.

Evidence put before the inquest indicated police officers mocked and made fun of Silverfox while he lay in his vomit and waste, at times asking for help.

He was transported to Whitehorse General Hospital after he became unconscious, and was later pronounced dead.

Charlie and her family called for a judicial review of the jury's findings, arguing Silverfox's death was not natural, but a result of negligence on the part of RCMP officers and jail staff.

"For me and my family, and for my dad, it's basically justice, and I am really happy for the outcome, and my dad finally gets his justice that I fought for, for how long, and he finally received it.”

Charlie said Veale's decision brings closure not only for her and her family, but also for her father.

"He gets to rest peacefully now.”

Not from the very moment the jury delivered its finding did Charlie and her family accept natural causes as being responsible for Silverfox's death.

"It just did not seem right, and I always thought that, all the way along,” she said.

"Most everyone did not agree with the verdict because the way my dad passed away to me was not natural causes. He was neglected, and that is not natural causes.”

Charlie said it's time for her and her family to move on. She's proceeding with plans to be a nurse, as she was going to school at Yukon College when her father died.

It's been two years since the inquest, she pointed out.

Charlie said she's also honoured that their challenge of the inquest's finding has resulted in a decision that clarifies for the first time the role of the coroner and the standards the coroner must meet.

The Silverfox family did sue the RCMP. The matter has since been settled out of court, under the condition that the details be kept confidential.

On the morning of Dec. 2, 2008, Silverfox sought a place to spend the night at the Salvation Army shelter.

Sally Ann staff called emergency medical personnel to come and pick up Silverfox because he was drunk and getting sick.

The emergency medical staff found he was a five on the scale of one to 10 for drunkenness, was coherent and could walk on his own.

They also found he did not need to go to the hospital for a checkup before being turned over to the RCMP, as is the policy for people who are really drunk.

The police were called by ambulance staff, and Silverfox was taken directly to the jail cell. He was not known to the RCMP.

In his 51-page decision, Veale finds the coroner's instructions to the jury before it retired to deliberate were inadequate.

The charge was brief, and made no mention of key evidence, instead of being substantial and comprehensive, the judge indicated.

Veale says it was particularly important for the coroner to provide a thorough review of the evidence, as the inquest went for a lengthy seven days, with testimony from 28 witnesses.

The charge to the jury, he finds, more or less left the jury members believing if they found Silverfox died of pneumonia caused by breathing in vomit accumulating in his mouth, the verdict should be death by natural causes.

Veale points outs the jury was not reminded of, nor invited to consider, the expert medical testimony suggesting that had Silverfox received medical attention at some point during the 13 1/2 hours, he might not have died.

The coroner also erred in not allowing the jury to see the entire 13 1/2 hours of video tape, but instead limited viewing to 30 minutes of fast-forward replay, out of fear of "inflaming” their view of the situation, Veale finds.

He says by not seeing the entire video, the jury was unable to get a true sense of what happened that day.

The judge finds the inadequate instructions to the jury, and denying a full screening of the video, were procedurally unfair, and valid grounds to set aside the jury's verdict.

While Veale mentions a number of other concerns raised by the family as grounds for a judicial review, he finds the coroner's management did not cross the line as "bias or unfair” or those other instances.

He did, however, make several observations about how he felt matters should have been dealt with differently.

Veale points out the RCMP investigation into the death was conducted by officers from outside the Yukon, but by RCMP officers nonetheless.

The investigation was thorough and professional, but there were still the optics of having the RCMP investigating the RCMP, he points out.

The judge suggests it would be wise in these situations to have another police force conduct the investigation, or at least an independent authority to assess the investigation.

There was really no need to withhold the full transcript of the audio tape from the family's lawyer, Veale says.

He says the tape was available to the lawyer, and the only thing withholding the transcript did was add time and cost for the lawyer to transcribe it herself.

Denying the request to have the audio tape played during the testimony of key witnesses, out of fear of "inflaming the situation,” prevented the jury from gaining a true sense of what occurred that day, Veale finds.

"In my view, it would have been preferable here for at least certain portions of the audio to be played, if that was the request of a party, so that the actual words of the witness were heard,” Veale writes in his decision.

"A transcript does not always record the tone or manner in which something was said.”

Veale says while some things should have been handled differently by the coroner, it was only the shortcomings in her instructions to the jury and denying a full airing of the video tape that crossed the line and resulted in the verdict being quashed.

Whitehorse lawyer Susan Roothman, who represented the Silverfox family, said Monday Veale's decision not only supports the family's belief the inquest was unfair and the verdict wrong, but clarifies the ground rules for future inquests.

While Veale did not concur with all claims by the family of bias and unfair management of the case by the coroner, he did provide comments regarding the concerns raised and how things could have been done differently, she pointed out.

Roothman, who has been a lawyer on three inquests, said Veale's decision is something she and others can refer to as a guide to inquests in the future.

"It established a precedent.”

She doubts whether the coroner or the federal government representing the RCMP officers will appeal Veale's decision, because there's essentially nothing to challenge.

The decision, Roothman said, provides clarity under the Yukon's Coroner's Act, legislation which is specific to the Yukon and not applicable anywhere else in Canada.

Besides, she acknowledged, it's likely the RCMP and coroner's office, like the Silverfox family, want to put the unsettling events of Dec. 2, 2008 behind them as quickly as possible.

Roothman said when she moved from South Africa to the Yukon, she didn't think she'd ever see the cases of police brutality and neglect she dealt with under apartheid.

She was wrong, she said.

"Whether you sort of assault the person or whether you do not provide the necessary standard of care for someone in your custody, it's still inhumane, cruel treatment.”

The Silverfox family went to the wall with their call for a judicial review of the coroner's inquest because they could not live with the verdict that their loved one had died of natural causes, Roothman insisted.