June 23, 2009 in City

Doug Clark: Glimpse of justice rises from great travesty

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Well, hallelujah!

Turns out a brute with a badge can’t just get away with thumping and shocking the hell out of an innocent, mentally ill janitor in this town.

I know. Suspects are innocent until proven guilty.

Let Spokane police Officer Karl F. Thompson Jr. have his day in court for his violent encounter with Otto Zehm.

For the moment, however, I’m savoring the sweet sounds of U.S. Attorney James McDevitt handing down two indictments against Thompson.

Count One: Thompson “struck and repeatedly struck Otto Zehm with a baton and tasered him …”

Count Two: Thompson knowingly lied to investigators.

Monday’s trip to the federal building made me proud I’m still a journalist.

Thompson faces up to 30 years in the joint, although we all know that sort of sentence will never happen.

I don’t want to jinx things. But given the fickle nature of juries, Thompson might very well skate out of this SPDisaster just like ol’ Shonto-shooting Jay Olsen.

But seeing anything come Otto’s way at this point is powerful medicine.

McDevitt’s words put a lump in my throat while I sat taking notes in a drab conference room.

What happened to this 36-year-old special-needs citizen on March 18, 2006, is such a stain on our community.

By now you all know the story – how Otto went into a North Side Zip Trip to buy a plastic jug of Diet Pepsi and a Snickers bar.

What he didn’t know was that some nitwit had previously dialed 911. She reported that Otto had been behaving suspiciously while near an ATM.

That set the wheels in motion.

Along came Thompson. The mayhem soon followed. Otto was beaten, shocked with a Taser and hogtied. A plastic oxygen mask was placed on his face yet never hooked up to oxygen.

No wonder the man suffered a heart attack and died en route to the hospital.

Speaking of travesties, did you see that front-page headline in Saturday’s newspaper?

“Zehm to blame for fight with officers, city says.”

I about spit up my coffee. My mood got worse reading the adjoining story.

“Otto Zehm knew or should have known that he was being detained by a peace officer and had the duty to refrain from force to resist such detention,” stated part of the city’s 56-page response to a civil rights lawsuit filed by Otto’s mom, Ann.

It must be liberating to work in the city attorney’s office and not be encumbered by trivialities like, oh, shame.

Yes, I’m thrilled about Monday’s indictments. But this should never have reached the federal stage.

Charges should have been filed against Thompson long ago. They would have, too, if our county prosecutor, Steve Tucker, was packing anything besides golf balls.

Doug Clark is a columnist for The Spokesman-Review. He can be reached at (509) 459-5432 or by e-mail at dougc@spokesman.com.

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Nine comments on this story so far. Add yours!

• 

  lewis on June 23 at 9:52 a.m.

  It is time to demand Steve Tuckers resignation

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  dick adams on June 23 at 9:59 a.m.

  Great story, Doug. I shall continue to wear my
  “OTTO” pin, proudly, but sadly, in his memory until justice is served.

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  sdunning on June 23 at 1:30 p.m.

  Why condemn city officials for doing their job? Who decides the difference between bad cops and good ones and how the bad ones should be punished? Not you or I, and not lawyers either. Our system is far from perfect, but innocent until proven guilty was put in place to protect the innocent. Unfortunately, it lets the guilty get away with murder sometimes. That is not the city's fault. The city also protects cops who do an amazing job everyday, but none of you will complain about that.

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  George Sands on June 23 at 1:57 p.m.

  sdunning, in order for you to get your wish, we need an office of Independant Oversite to investigate complaints of police officers that are not investigated by police officers and hidden from the public by police officers or lied about by police officers.

  There is a protest on thursday at 5 in front of the City Hall regarding Independat Oversite. sdunning, if you want your wish, then be there to put up or you know shut up.

  Many thanks to Doug Clark. Now I'm thinking OTTO bumperstickers.

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  93bird on June 23 at 2:10 p.m.

  Thankfully, a federal grand jury can decide between good and bad cops, and knows how the bad ones should be punished. I for one will complain about our city's shameful ability to defend this officer. Their desire to shrug off this travesty, and ask us to be “proud in terms of his service to the community.” is despicable. What must they be doing for those officers who haven't been caught yet? I mean the cops doing an amazing job everyday. I hope the feds bring Spokane the justice our own police and prosecutor can't.

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  bripple37 on June 23 at 4:01 p.m.

  Where is the outrage!!?? Yes, many Spokane residents are still in shock over this event, and how utterly useless and embarassing the Spokane police department response has been, but it is mind-boggling to me that Spokane residents aren't lined up at the Public”safety” building with torches in hand! The two dumb-asses responsible for the initial phone call should be locked up for 5 years a piece and ALL of the cops involved (and their so-called leaders) should be fired and prosecuted! These people appear to have gotten off unscathed for beating a harmless, innocent, retarded man to death! Oops!

  Wake-up Spokane….tomorrow it could easily be your child, sibling, spouse, etc, for “rolling their eyes” at a Spokane Cop during a simple traffic stop! With the complete lack of accountability in the Spokane Police Department, these types of events will continue to happen.

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  Marksman on June 23 at 5:49 p.m.

  This must've been why the Chief of Police climbed Mt. Rainier; to get away from the stench coming out of her department.

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  philipgregory on June 24 at 8:24 a.m.

  This is not an isolated case.

  The SPD is known for its excessive violence and disregard for the publice - the public they are “sworn” to serve and protect!

  The SPD house needs a thoroughly house-cleaning - starting with the chief and administrative officers. They are the ones responsible for the 'tone' of their department.

  And, that 'tone' is a militaristic, violent, arrogant, self-righteous one that means they will stomp over anyone in their way - even the mentally challenged and handicapped.

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  Gimple on July 10 at 12:00 p.m.

  I have never had an encounter with a Spokane cop that did NOT include the disturbing feeling that I was one misstep away from being violently assaulted (even when I went to them for what I thought were legitimate requests for them to perform their duties).
  It almost seemed as though they were all working off the same script in an attempt to spark some reaction that they could then describe as “threatening”. None of these tactics ever worked, but fearing that their techniques would improve beyond my ability to recognize them, I just left.
  The only police organizations that I have found to be comperable to this one, reside in third world banana republics.

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