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March 23, 2010 in City
County to pay $50,000 to settle suit in death of Trent Yohe
Spokane County commissioners approved a $50,000 settlement Tuesday in the May 2007 death of a Spokane Valley man who fought with sheriff’s deputies.
Trent Yohe, 37, lost consciousness after being restrained hand-and-foot, and died 12 days later of what a county medical examiner said was a shortage of oxygen to the brain.
Dr. John Howard attributed the oxygen loss to a combination of drugs, heart disease, “excited delirium” and the way in which Yohe was restrained. Police define excited delirium as a medical emergency fed by a mix of extreme mental and physical excitement, often fueled by drugs or alcohol.
A Spokane police investigation said Yohe also was shocked several times with a Taser. Deputies, working for the city of Spokane Valley on contract, responded to a report of drug activity in a travel trailer.
Attorney Breean Beggs, who with the Center for Justice filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Yohe’s preteen daughter, said he was pleased that county officials “agreed to talk resolution in the case before all the money was spent on lawyers.”
Beggs also was pleased that the state Department of Social and Health Services agreed to waive repayment of more than $100,000 in medical bills it paid.
The result is that Yohe’s daughter will have a college fund, Beggs said.
He noted that the sheriff’s office already had changed its training and policies “to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich said his office and the Spokane Police Department are “among the few departments in the nation” with procedures to deal with excited delirium.
Knezovich said he thinks the size of the settlement is “a representation of the fact that Spokane County deputies did nothing wrong in this matter.”
He said deputies were dealing with a “chaotic situation” in which a companion of Yohe fled through a roof vent, there was a fire in the trailer and Yohe was “automatically combative.”
Also, Knezovich said Yohe had just come down from a seven- to 10-day methamphetamine binge, and that he thinks that was “a high contributing factor.”
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D Statler on March 23 at 7:49 p.m.
Here comes OZZIE again.”My boys did nothing wrong”. If your boys didn’t do anything wrong,the county wouldn’t have paid out $50,000.We are going to vote you out in November.
ps. The Washington State Patrol has an oath they swear to uphold.They have higher standards that all WSP officers use while on and off duty.They monitor their own and weed out the bad apples. Before they chase thru town shooting people in the back of their heads and hit and run drunken driving.
The Sheriffs office and SPD need to follow the WSP’s leadership standards.This can never happen with the current leadership.When you are standing in front of the ballot box in November.Remember all the events of the past and lets go a different direction.
joshter4 on March 23 at 7:49 p.m.
It is sad when someones family member dies no matter what the reason, or what type of lifestyle they chose to live. But for once the sheriff dept was doing there job and now they are being berated in a court of law for doing what they needed to. The worthless non abiding citizens who put themselves in situations they should not be in are the ones causing the problems, I am sick of them calling themselves victims. If they are dumb enough to put themselves in such situations then they should be held accountable at any cost. The real victims here are all the people the drug user probably ripped off to pay for his drugs and the honest tax papers that are footing his bill.
Not_woriking on March 23 at 9:51 p.m.
“Spokane County deputies did nothing wrong in this matter”
I just lost all respect for Ozzie.
So what did they do right?
We have set the price of a mans life at $50,000. I dont care who or what Yohe was…I do care that the county puts such a small price on a man;s life and so much on a useless wasted race track.
$50,000 wont even hire one of those murdering clowns for a year….let alone a lifetime.
D Statler on March 23 at 10:24 p.m.
The part that chaps me is I voted for this guy. I can only hope that my vote AGAINST Ozzie the truth avoider and Steve Tucker the truth twister prevail again.Leadership starts from the top and both these gentlemen have shown very little ability to lead. Joe the plummer would do a better job for Spokane!