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March 13, 2009 in City
Officer Olsen’s fate rests with jurors
Closing arguments pack courtroom
The fate of suspended Spokane police Officer Jay Olsen, charged with shooting Shonto Pete in the head and sending a volley of bullets into Peaceful Valley two years ago, is in the jury’s hands.
A standing-room-only crowd, including supporters of Olsen and Pete, packed Spokane County Superior Court Judge Jerome Leveque’s courtroom Thursday afternoon to hear closing arguments.
“This is an important case – not only for Mr. Olsen, but for Mr. Pete and the community,” said deputy prosecutor Larry Steinmetz.
He described “a moment in time involving a Spokane police officer, sworn to uphold the law, who became intoxicated and lodged a bullet into a man’s head.”
There is no evidence that Pete stole Olsen’s truck Feb. 26, 2007, as Olsen and his friend Renee Main claimed in their testimony, Steinmetz said.
“A pickup truck can be replaced; a human life cannot,” Steinmetz added.
Steinmetz urged the eight-man, four-woman jury to find Olsen guilty of first-degree assault and reckless endangerment for his actions that night.
Rob Cossey, Olsen’s attorney, said Olsen is “not on trial as a police officer” and he had a right to defend himself that night on the bluff above Peaceful Valley.
“That 10 seconds on the hill is the most important part of this trial … you have to put yourself in his shoes, what his perception was that night,” Cossey said.
Cossey said a fleeing Pete turned on Olsen twice, causing Olsen to fire five shots from his pistol. Pete was unarmed except for a small pocketknife.
In his rebuttal, Steinmetz said Pete never turned on Olsen.
“He was shot in the head, running for his life. Why would he do that?” Steinmetz asked.
The jury will start its deliberations at 9 a.m. this morning.
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Reach Karen Dorn Steele at (509) 459-5462 or at karend@spokesman.com
DOE offers to settle claims 
ChefGus/ John Olsen on March 13 at 7:12 a.m.
Karen.
thank you for your reporting on this complex, convoluted case. It will be interesting to see the juror’s decision… and it seems clear to most of us… but juries do make mistakes.
My “guess” as to the motivation for Officer Olsen could have been Mr Peet’s making a comment about the officer coming out of the Gay Bar… and Officer Olsen being so deep in the closet reacted in a big way to being “called gay”…. that would give motivation to the officer to get real angry real quick and pursue Mr Peet in a drunken rage.
Looking forward to the result. John