Police Show Lack Of Restraint

The death of a 28-year-old man after a struggle with police didn’t have to become a public relations nightmare.

Law enforcement officials - both in the Spokane Police Department and the Spokane County Sheriff’s Department - could have looked at the autopsy findings for Mario Lozada and admitted the restraint used in arresting him caused his death. They could have taken comfort in pathologist George Lindholm’s conclusion that the death was accidental.

Instead, they’re listening to County Coroner Dexter Amend, who inexplicably ruled the death an overdose.

Not a wise move. Amend has been embroiled in controversy ever since he used Rachel Carver’s coffin as a soap box. The young girl was beaten to death, but Amend seized on the private details of her short life to advance his uninformed ideas about homosexuality.

Since then, critics have received the OK for a recall vote on Amend, 138 doctors have signed a petition to “strongly endorse” recalling Amend and trade the coroner system for a medial examiner, and horror stories abound about Amend’s insensitive behavior at death scenes.

On Wednesday, Lindholm said the death certificate Amend filed on Lozada was so misleading he plans to review other death certificates the coroner has filed. Lindholm said in strong terms that, while Lozada did have a significant level of methamphetamine in his system, he did not overdose. Amend - who rarely views actual autopsies and never examined Lozada’s body - took it upon himself to issue a different cause of death on the certificate.

And police are all too eager to accept Amend’s word. Both Sheriff John Goldman and Deputy Police Chief Larry Hersom stood by Amend’s finding, even after Lindholm had said he was certain Lozada had not died of an overdose. They refuse to comment more, citing an ongoing internal investigation.

They’d be smart to acknowledge the qualified findings of Lindholm’s report. Lozada resisted arrest; it’s clear the police were justified in restraining him. But the stubborn insistence to stick with Amend makes it look like the police have something to hide.

And Amend’s perplexing switch on the death certificate only underscores the acute need for Spokane to move from an elected coroner to an appointed medical examiner. It’s the only way to ensure competent autopsies and a well-run office.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Anne Windishar/For the editorial board