Huckleberries Online

Public To Pay Zehm Cop Defense

Posted by DFO

July 9, 2009 4:26 p.m. • 17 comments

Spokane Police officer Karl Thompson (with silver hair) talks friends and supporters outside the Federal Courthouse in Spokane where he appeared today to answer charges in the Otto Zehm case. (Jesse Tinsley/SR)

But during the short arraignment, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Durkin objected to the defense request to appoint Oreskovich as Thompson’s attorney, noting that Thompson makes about $80,000 a year – counting overtime – and owns a $675,000 home, which is listed in his wife’s name, in Hayden. But Imbrogno said she carefully studied the private documents submitted by Thompson’s attorneys and ruled that he is indigent, freeing the way for public funds to pay for his defense. “I am very satisfied that Mr. Thompson qualifies for court-appointed counsel,” Imbrogno said/Thomas Clouse, SR. More here.

Question: Do you think the public should pay for Spokane officer Karl Thompson’s defense when he earns around $80,000 per year and has a $675K home?

17 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

JeanieSpokane on July 09 at 4:54 p.m.
I don’t consider either the $80,000 salary (which I think is pretty low for the length of time he has served the SPD) or the $675,000 home - especially the $675,000 home. Doesn’t that just encourage the rest of us to go crazy with buying way above our means???? I definitely would be poverty-stricken with the payments of a $675,000 home – even if it was in the name of my spouse.
Sadbuttrue on July 09 at 5:01 p.m.
Once again, the rules are always bent when it comes to cop misbehavior.
pthompson on July 09 at 5:08 p.m.
Only if he gets a public defender from Kootenai County
spokelooneh on July 09 at 6:16 p.m.
Unbelievable. More travesty of justice. He’s indigent my arse.

And he’s getting a $250/hr PRIVATE attorney paid for by the city, not a public defender?

““Mr. Thompson is a protector of the community, not a threat to the community,” Van Wert said. “He is a decorated Vietnam veteran.”

What the hell does his Vietnam service have to do with anything?

Wonders never cease.

Best justice system money can buy.

The gypsy curse continues.
Charlie on July 09 at 6:21 p.m.
NO!
jreighley on July 09 at 7:29 p.m.
Yes,
I think legal representation is a reasonable benefit for somebody who is in as high risk job as being a police officer. It is a very close call between reasonable and excessive force, and that can be a difficult call to make when you have adrenaline running through your veins.
If you allow the cops to be ravaged by lawsuits constantly then nobody will take the risk of holding that job, and society will get really ugly really fast.
Lawyers ain’t cheap. Litigation can put even the richest folks in the poorhouse pretty fast. 80k per year isn’t going to buy much in a high profile case like this.
Pretty darn good chance he will be acquitted as well.
hhuseland on July 09 at 8:06 p.m.
Good lord! If this guy is indigent, what does that make me? All kidding aside, If he screwed up in the line of duty,he probably deserves an attorney provided by the police guild.
lewis8457 on July 09 at 11:37 p.m.
80 grand a year is too much money for any cop. We pay them too damn much money and for what? lies nothing but lies.

if a cop decides not to break the law because he knows he might have to pay for his own defense I see that as more insurance for the citizens he will have to control himself at all times, which is what they should be doing any way. As it is they can go off half cocked kill someone and it is no harm to their wallets, where is the justice in that? Add to the fact he is still on duty at full pay.

Just goes to show how the trail will go, i have little doubt he will be found innocent on all charges. And the pony show continues.
lewis8457 on July 09 at 11:39 p.m.
I made 11 grand last year, if i made 80 grand it would be like being a millionaire.
Ron_the_Cop on July 10 at 5:43 a.m.
Lewis,

If you read my piece on Zehm the feds will do a Martha Stewart on him and get him on the making false statement charge.
Ron_the_Cop on July 10 at 5:45 a.m.
Lewis here’s the link

http://friendsofmarkfuhrman.org/blog/?p=144
Sadbuttrue on July 10 at 6:19 a.m.
“If you allow the cops to be ravaged by lawsuits constantly then nobody will take the risk of holding that job, and society will get really ugly really fast. ”

So stop suing the cops when they kill us, put us in jail with perjured testimoiny, beat us for no reason.

Otherwise, they won’t be able to protect us.
Dennis on July 10 at 6:33 a.m.
I wanna thank LH and SBT for their comments concerning law enforcement.

Now when I tell people why I retired when I did and that I would disown my children if they ever chose law enforcement as a career, I can pull out these comments to show what kind of “Citizens” officers have to deal with.

I would personally like to see law enforcement banned. I know it sounds crazy, but as anarchy took over, the LH’s and SBT’s out there would be the first ones screaming wanting the officers back,,,,,, no matter the cost.

It’s easy to criticize when you haven’t walked a mile in their shoes.
BethB on July 10 at 7:23 a.m.
My experience in the federal trial court here is that they are compassionate when people do not have a lot of funds but do not make findings of indigency without good reason. Also (again, just my experience), in federal court, when a defendant goes from private pay to public pay, the hourly rate is the federal court-appointed-attorney rate, and not the higher private rate. So Carl Oreskovich is likely taking a pay cut here. Though I suppose that’s better than not getting paid at all.
Sadbuttrue on July 10 at 7:51 a.m.
Dennis,

You have aptly demonstrated the base emotional state for cops: grandiose and maudlin self pity. Pouting and throwing a temper tantrum like a two year old about being required to follow the rules (which cops find often conveniently impossible, although their concern never similarly extends to the citizens they abuse and maim).

If we are required to follow the law, then we can’t enforce it. When non-cops make the argument it is impossible to follow the law, they are summarly ridiculed and immediately branded as a criminal. End of argument. When cops make the same argument, we are to treat them as martyrs destined for early sainthood, who have nobly thrown themselves on the pyre of self sacrifice.

Would you ooze with brotherly concern If I, as a mere citizen, treated Otto Zehm the way this vicious killer cop treated him? What if I told a lie to the authorities to escape punishment? What are the chances I would not have gone to jail on the day of the killing, and be there still?

Yet a cop not only stays out of jail, but gets to keep his $80 thou a year job despite being charged with two very serious felonies AND have his representation paid by the rest of us.

An entry level worker at McDonalds has higher moral requirements and would be summarily and brusquely fired if charged with these crimes.

Nice work if you an get it.
Fishwife on July 10 at 9:37 a.m.
It ocurred to me that U.S. Attorney Jim Mcsomething is a lame duck soon to be replaced. Will the case go away then? What statement was Jim Mcsomething trying to make on his way out? Axe to grind with City of Spokane? Spokane PD? Didn’t he get caught up in the SR’s Riverfront Square development fiasco?
BethB on July 10 at 10:02 a.m.
Indictment’s in place, Fishwife - speedy trial clock is ticking - and Mcsomething (McDevitt, I think) was none too pleased during the press conference where he announced the indictment itself - he was very grumpy about it, as I recall - so my guess is that the indictment wasn’t his baby to begin with. Just a guess, though. Also, if you look at the indictment, a co-signator is a prosecutor out of Washington, D.C. (from the civil rights division of the DOJ). This does not appear to have been solely a local decision to indict.

http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=cache%3AqtoXhX9jcqwJ%3Amedia.spokesman.com%2Fdocuments%2F2009%2F06%2Findict_001.pdf+%22timothy+durkin%22+spokane&hl=en&gl=us&pli=1

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.