Claim filed in fatal beating

Attorneys representing the former wife of Benites S. Sichiro have filed a $5 million claim against Spokane County for his Jan. 29 death after being beaten at the Spokane County Jail.

Attorneys Greg Devlin and Brian Hipperson filed the claim of damages late last week seeking the $5 million and other expenses, to be determined, on behalf of Sichiro’s estate and his two children with his former wife, Menciana B. Meippen.

“We just have to realize that these people, who are victims at the hands of law enforcement, they have families,” Hipperson told The Spokesman-Review on Wednesday. “We can’t just write them off simply as criminals who had it coming.”

Sichiro, 39, was booked into jail on Jan. 27 for misdemeanor warrants charging criminal trespass, obstruction of justice and fourth-degree assault, and he was also under investigation for an alleged sexual assault against a 12-year-old girl. He was reportedly suffering from alcohol withdrawal and was delusional when taken into custody.

Then on Jan. 29, he fought with jailers on three different occasions. During those struggles, jailers jolted Sichiro with Tasers and struck him with their knees and fists.

Three days after the struggle – and only after another deputy came forward describing the blow – former jailer John Elam told authorities that he used a “donkey kick” against Sichiro during one of the altercations.

Three weeks after Sichiro’s death, the Spokane Police Department hired Elam, who now works as a patrol officer, department spokesman Cpl. Tom Lee said.

After fighting with the corrections deputies, jailers finally subdued Sichiro by placing him into a “restraint chair,” Hipperson and Devlin wrote in their complaint.

Sichiro stopped responding and finally was transported to Deaconess Medical Center where he died from a lacerated liver caused by blunt-force trauma, likely suffered during his struggle with deputies, an autopsy later revealed.

Spokane County Medical Examiner Sally Aiken ruled that Sichiro’s death was a homicide, or a death caused by another person.

Hipperson and Devlin said in their court filing that deputies failed for three hours to tell medical staff that they had struck Sichiro several times in the torso.

“A sheriff’s deputy accompanying Mr. Sichiro to the hospital merely informed medical staff that the inmate was Tasered three times but failed to point out the aforementioned ‘donkey kick’ and knee strikes to the abdomen,” Devlin and Hipperson wrote.

About three hours after Sichiro was transported to Deaconess, Sheriff’s Capt. Jerry Brady told the nursing staff that deputies had delivered blows to Sichiro, Hipperson said.

“Such is a further breach of duty owed to Mr. Sichiro, and which was proximate cause of his death,” according to the claim.

Hipperson said he has spoken to a Spokane County deputy prosecutor who deals with civil cases, but the county has not formally responded. Chief Civil Deputy Prosecutor Jim Emacio could not be reached Wednesday for comment.

If the county does not respond in 60 days, it opens the door to a lawsuit to be filed by Devlin and Hipperson, he said.

“We are hopeful we can engage in dialogue with the county and thereby avoid some expensive legal expenses with the county,” he said.

Jun Mascardo, a friend and former landlord of Sichiro, said he hopes for the best for the Sichiro family.

“He was a really good guy, contrary to what was portrayed,” Mascardo said of Sichiro. “Once you got to know him, he was just a gentle giant.”

Sichiro had moved to the U.S. about 10 years ago from the Mariana Islands of the Federated States of Micronesia.

“The bottom line here is the money,” Mascardo said. “Hopefully, it goes to the right persons – to the kids.”

Spokane County Prosecutor Steve Tucker has yet to decide whether any of the jailers involved with the incident will face criminal charges. Tucker did not return messages left at his office and his cell phone.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has also not yet completed its investigation into whether the jailers violated Sichiro’s civil rights, Hipperson said.

The seven corrections deputies other than Elam who were involved in the Sichiro incident were Steve Long, Ted Tofsrud, Todd Belitz, Wayne Mauer, David Hatton, Tim Christopherson and Michael Vanatta. All resumed their duties and continue to work in the jail, Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan said.

Hipperson said nobody should have to worry about dying in jail at the hands of jailers.

“Benites had a former wife and two young children,” Hipperson said. “Even though their father may have had some run-ins with the law, nobody deserves to lose their father or their parent under such circumstances.”

Staff writer Benjamin Shors contributed to this report.