October 31, 2009 in City

City says Zehm 911 recording was mislabeled

Comment that janitor seemed ‘on something’ didn’t make it on initial release

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A woman describing Otto Zehm as “on something” to an emergency dispatcher can be heard on a video compilation released by police in October 2006, but not on an audio recording that police had labeled as “911 audio” and released three months earlier.

The difference between the video compilation and the earlier audio recording, which a city spokeswoman says may be a result of the audio recording being mislabeled, may help explain a dispute between the city and lawyers representing Zehm’s mother in a federal civil lawsuit claiming police and the city violated her son’s rights.

Otto Zehm died after a March 18, 2006, confrontation with police at a Zip Trip gas and convenience store. The mentally ill janitor was mistakenly identified as a robbery suspect.

The video compilation was prepared by a specialist hired by the city. It contains the woman’s “on something” comment, which the city uses in part of its argument against Ann Zehm’s claims.

“Did he seem high or intoxicated?” the 911 dispatcher asks in the transcript prepared by Grant Fredericks, the city’s specialist, in October 2006.

“I don’t think he was drunk. I th— he’s on something,” replies the woman, who called to say she thought someone was stealing money from an ATM on North Division Street.

About 25 seconds later, a dispatcher tells the responding police officers that a suspect is “still bent down messing with the ATM and the complainant thinks he appears to be high.”

Lawyers for Zehm’s mother say they have a written transcript that contains the “on something” comment but the city has not given them a recording that confirms the transcript.

In a story about a federal court filing by Zehm’s attorneys from the Center for Justice last Saturday, The Spokesman-Review incorrectly reported that the “on something” comment could not be found in recordings released by the city to the media. After city officials insisted they had released the comment, the newspaper found a transcript of the full 911 call, which contains the comment, in the newsroom. On Friday, the city rereleased the October 2006 compilation, which it calls a “mash-up” DVD that synchronizes video from the ATM; the Zip Trip where police confronted, beat and shocked Zehm with a Taser; the 911 call; and audio from police and fire units that responded to the call.

The October 2006 compilation contains about five minutes of conversation between the woman and a 911 dispatcher that is missing from the audio recording released in July 2006. City police won’t comment on the recordings because of the lawsuit, but Marlene Feist, a city spokeswoman, said the discrepancy appears to be a result of the two jurisdictions that handle emergency calls.

When a person calls 911, an operator who works for Spokane County takes the call and gets some basic information.

The operator then hands off the call to a dispatcher from the appropriate jurisdiction to handle the emergency, in this case, the city police.

The city released the city dispatcher’s discussion to the media but not the county dispatcher’s initial conversation with the woman, she said. The reason isn’t clear, and the police officer who prepared the recordings and might have been able to explain it recently died.

“It’s mislabeled,” Feist said of the audio recording. The audio recording was transcribed on The Spokesman-Review’s Web site the day it was released and posted on KXLY’s Web site, where it remains in the station’s Web archives.

The October 2006 compilation also remains in the KXLY Web site’s archives, where, city officials argue, it is in the public domain and easily accessible. In a letter to the newspaper Thursday, Assistant City Attorney Rocky Treppiedi called allegations by Zehm’s attorneys that the 911 tape doesn’t match the transcript as “baseless” and said they’ll be addressed in court, not in the newspaper. Discovery – the exchange of documents and evidence – is still under way in the case, he said.

Jeffry Finer, one of Zehm’s attorneys, said he apparently has the same “911 audio” recording the news media received, which he obtained through a public records request. If there are two tapes, the city should have supplied both under that request, he said.

He’s seen the “on something” dialogue written in the transcript and will listen for it in copies of the October 2006 compilation, like those released to the media. But to have an independent expert examine the tape, plaintiffs will need a copy of the original conversation with the operator, Finer said.

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15 comments on this story so far. Add yours!

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  Rifleman__Dodd on October 31 at 12:35 a.m.

  Now the City is manufacturing evidence.

  It just goes to prove how incompetent ALL these people are.

  Whats worse is what other “mistakes”, “errors”, “mislabelings”, “erasures” exist in their daily operations.

  Flag as inappropriate

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  Ninch on October 31 at 8:57 a.m.

  With Rocky involved look for many more “mislabeled” pieces of evidence. I hope the judge takes him and the City to task for their compilation video not matching the “transcript.” This discovery does not impact the fact that Spokane policemen MURDERED Zehm, but it does raise questions about the trustworthiness of Rocky, his client (Spokane Police Dept), and his bosses. Note: NO ONE oversees Rocky's actions and it has cost the City millions of dollars over the years.

  BTW: Who is this women who cannot tell the difference between someone who is “high” and a mentally-challenged person? Her actions seem to fit the description of someone who is prejudiced/biased/elitist/clueless/ignorant and more.

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  Sadbuttrue on October 31 at 10:11 a.m.

  “Her actions seem to fit the description of someone who is prejudiced/biased/elitist/clueless/ignorant and more.”

  No wonder the cops found her so credible that they acted in the way that they did: They think exactly the same way!

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  Ron_the_Cop on October 31 at 12:03 p.m.

  Mr. Camden,

  I'll give you props in bird dogging the Otto Zehm Case and trying to pry additional information out of our government. In order for the people to hold our elected accountable, we need to be informed.

  Which begs my question, why haven't you dug into the other tragic death in River City? You have some explosive letters I got by filing a PDR with the WA AG's Office.

  Cat got your tongue?

  http://friendsofmarkfuhrman.org/blog/…

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  Uptight_Spokanite on October 31 at 12:11 p.m.

  Please don't hijack this thread Ron. Otto deserves better. This “mash-up” or mix tape of evidence will prove to be an enormous embarrassment for the city and further cement its reputation as a gang of lying, butt covering scoundrels.

  Remember Otto Zehm. You get the city police force you will tolerate. Stop tolerating thuggery and murder, Spokane.

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  Ron_the_Cop on October 31 at 2:06 p.m.

  Agreed Uptight_Spokanite. I don't disagree with you but the root causes of both of these tragic deaths have a common thread.

  The attitude of the City Attorney's Office sucks. As for the Zehm death I wrote a while back regarding my opinion. This was a wrongful death and the City should have settled a long time ago. As for the police - police policy, tactics and procedures and training needed to be reviewed and changed so this never happens again. This is a police management problem and issue but we as citizens don't know whether such change has been effected because our government has been so thoroughly co-opted and corrupted:

  Federal Civil Rights Indictment Returned in Otto Zehm Case - Spokane, WA

  http://friendsofmarkfuhrman.org/blog/…

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  dick adams on October 31 at 4:17 p.m.

  How pathetic. Both the Chief and Mayor have allowed this cover up to linger far too long. Rocky Treppedi seems to me, has his finger prints all over the case. If he follows his usual ding bat moves, he may sue the Zehm family next.

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  soccermomsusie on October 31 at 4:36 p.m.

  I am so relieved that no one is blaming the Spokesman Review for not getting the story right in the first place. I mean they have done all they could do in reporting this story - they have talked to the plaintiff's lawyer and the prosecuting attorney. What more can a newspaper do but just report the one side of the story they know is the truth? Nothing!

  I hope Doug Clark does not feel bad either. He believes, like all of us, that the stories in the paper are 100 percent true. As a reporter what else can he do but believe what he is told by his own newspaper. I feel sorry for him and he is a good singer.

  I am glad all of you commenters are sticking to your guns on this one. Don't be swayed by anyone in the reality-based community - they are socialists. We know the truth because we have been told the one side of the story by the newspaper and that's good enough because that backs up the way we feel.

  I hope the officer gets tried in Spokane. Otherwise, a jury might not be inoculated (thanks to the paper) against the swine flu of impartiality. Can you imagine some jury in Seattle having to hear ALL the facts in this case before they make a decision? They will probably find him innocent and let him go! That would be a travesty which our fine newspaper would surely let us know is a travesty and that's how we would know that it was (a travesty). Doug Clark would sing a good song about the travesty too (I hope)!

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  Ron_the_Cop on October 31 at 4:53 p.m.

  Soccermomsusie,

  LOL - Aah hah you do get it! And Mr. Adams you did steal my thunder regarding Mr. Treppedi. I often wonder who the City Attorney's Office really represents?

  Flag as inappropriate

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  Uptight_Spokanite on October 31 at 9:34 p.m.

  Soccermom, nice sarcasm, but the very last place Karl Thompson probably wants to get tried is in Seattle or anywhere else that doesn't contain the jury magic that Spokanites bring when they let cops walk from brutal crimes. Nope, I'm thinking the more Spokanites that feds seat on his jury the better for him. As to the “mash up” of evidence, jury's still out on whether that's another lame attempt by the SPD to fake the truth out.

  In the interests of full disclosure, are you married to, dating, legally representing or related to a SPD cop? Because I can't think of any other type of person that would defend the murder of Otto Zehm like that.

  Flag as inappropriate

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  Ron_the_Cop on October 31 at 10:13 p.m.

  Uptight_Spokanite

  I don't really fault Spokanite juries. The real problem lies with County Prosecutor Steve Tucker. To lose the Jay Olsen case was a piece of work. The two witnesses that could have rebutted the” dispatch tape should have been recalled.

  I for one will not be voting for him next year. In fact I will be actively campaigning against him. I'm trying to convince and excellent candidate to run against Tucker to begin to drain the cesspool here.

  My beef with the S-R is that they won't challenge Tucker. My sources tell me that Tucker spends a lot of time at the Globe Bar and the 19th Hole of the Downriver Golf Course. The S-R pulls it punches when it comes to Tucker. Why?

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  soccermomsusie on November 01 at 8:57 a.m.

  I am not being sarcastic! I think it is wise that the paper does not tell all the items about the case. We want justice. We know how we feel. The stupid court system always brings up stuff that the paper doesn't tell us about and then the perp walks away when the jury finds out “the facts”. But, if the paper told us all the stuff they know about this case we would be confused as readers. Who wants that? I am not related to any police officers. I wish I was.

  Thankfully, the unwise disclosure by the paper about getting this story not entirely correctly (NOT WRONG) has not swayed anyone into becoming a bleeding heart by looking at all sides (socialism if you ask me). Also the paper is wise to leave the main button at the top of the page to take you to the original great story to bolster their position.

  HEAR OUR VOICE!!! I can't believe they had a story on wobblies this morning. These are the end times - I am late for church!!!

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  Ron_the_Cop on November 01 at 3:25 p.m.

  Soccermomsusie,

  It's because they ran out of real news to report that doesn't involve taboo subjects:-)

  Flag as inappropriate

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  PlanB on November 03 at 1:22 p.m.

  Hey Soccermomsusie, care to enlighten us on what pertinent “facts” are being left out?

  Flag as inappropriate

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  newspokanite on November 10 at 10:36 p.m.

  Cops who “mislabel” evidence or evidence miraculously disappears are the worst bunch. They take an oath to uphold the law yet time and time again they are “caught” either breaking the law or circumventing it. Cops like this are hypocrites…if they can't find the dignity and honor to uphold the virtues of being a police officer then they should quit, and maybe they'll be able to sleep at night. Its not incompetence…they purposely find ways to protect their brethen. When the police defends the actions of an off duty cop shooting up the neighborhood chasing a person from a night club who he claims attemptd to steal his truck then there's definitely an breach in the trust. Whats sad is that the cops dont see it this way and really believe the honor is to protect and serve…their own.

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