Spokane7
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September 22, 2011 in City
Charge against detective dropped
Jury fails to reach unanimous verdict
The case against former Spokane police Detective Jeff Harvey has essentially been dropped after a jury deadlocked Wednesday on an obstruction charge and the prosecutor said he won’t pursue a second trial.
Verdicts require unanimous decisions and the jury split 5-to-1 in favor of acquittal. Deputy Spokane County Prosecutor Brian O’Brien said the case is over.
“I won’t be pursuing it,” O’Brien said. Harvey “had to go through the full trial. We had our day in court on this charge.”
Harvey, 46, was charged with obstruction after a Jan. 22 encounter with a state wildlife officer who was investigating a report of shots being fired after hunting hours along Deadman Creek north of Spokane. The investigation involved Harvey’s sons and their friend, two of whom later acknowledged firing the shots that led to the complaint.
State Fish and Wildlife Officer Dave Spurbeck testified that Harvey refused to allow him to interview the boys and at one point Spurbeck had to physically move Harvey away from his vehicle, which contained several guns.
Harvey disputed the severity of the confrontation and contended that Spurbeck lied about parts of it to justify the criminal charge against him.
The former detective argued that the complaint was just part of an ongoing dispute over access to private hunting grounds and was made by a friend of Spurbeck’s.
Although the judge didn’t bar the evidence, O’Brien said he chose not to tell the jury that Spokane police officials fired Harvey at least in part due to the allegations levied in the obstruction charge.
“The case was whether the obstruction occurred,” O’Brien said. “We only had one witness.”
Defense attorney Rob Cossey was elated with the decision and questioned Harvey’s superiors for deciding to fire Harvey before the criminal case had concluded.
“When five members of the community hear the entire case and very quickly decide … this sends kind of a message to the chief,” Cossey said. Chief Anne Kirkpatrick “needs to treat all officers fairly … especially a 25-year officer like Jeff Harvey.”
Jurors said only one of their number believed Harvey was guilty. That man refused to change his stance, which he adopted within minutes of the conclusion of the trial on Tuesday.
“Why was this ever brought to court?” juror Daniel Stines said. “It was a waste of taxpayers’ dollars.” Juror Daryl Brown said some details of the encounter between Harvey and Spurbeck weren’t made clear, including where Harvey was standing in relation to Spurbeck. He also perceived the case had something to do with the police department’s administration.
Stines said he believed “the directive was not given.” Spurbeck “never said, ‘Stay there. I’m going to talk to the boys.’ Once (Harvey) was told he was obstructing, he stopped.”
Harvey declined comment, citing his unclear job situation and legal fight with the city.
Kirkpatrick fired Harvey in July in part because of the allegations from Spurbeck and what she also described in a letter as a “troubled work history.”
The city’s letter documented other discipline and negative evaluations during Harvey’s years in the department. He was suspended for 20 days in 1987 after breaking a man’s arm; given an oral reprimand in 1989 for use of excessive force; and suspended for 40 hours in 1991 for calling in sick so he could go hunting.
Within days after he was fired, Harvey and his civil attorney, Bob Dunn, filed a $10 million claim against the city for its handling of his case.
Harvey testified during trial that he had earned the department’s medal of valor. O’Brien, the prosecutor, didn’t bring up the reprimands because he said he didn’t believe they had anything to do with the case.
“Those are things that happened a long time ago,” O’Brien said. “Officers don’t like testifying against other officers, generally. No one feels glee in testifying on either side.”
1992 murder trial begins against sex offender 
Ron_the_Cop on September 22 at 2:48 a.m.
There is an comment thread in the earlier version of this article:
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/sep/21/jury-deadlocked-case-against-former-detective/
meyerlansky on September 22 at 5:07 a.m.
Well, now Mr. Harvey can proceed with his ten million dollar lawsuit against the city. Wow, the amount of money this current chief and her cronies will cost the city of Spokane is going to reach astronomical numbers.
TheRoyLarsen on September 22 at 6:12 a.m.
It’s funny. Five years ago you guys were saying she was greater than sliced bread.
Ron_the_Cop on September 22 at 6:50 a.m.
Meyerlansky that’s for damn sure.
WAKE UP SPOKANE!
WE THE PEOPLE - An American Spring!
A way forward - see my post
Mayor, City Attorney and Police Chief now implicated in Zehm death cover up (Spokane, WA) http://tinyurl.com/3mu2edv
lewis8457 on September 22 at 6:53 a.m.
Well no surprise here. when a cop is being prosecuted they make sure to get the dumbest jury they can.
Harvey will get his money from us folks then he will get his job back so he can lie and hurt more innocent people.
I fear for the safety of the wild life officer and his buddy Harvey is above the law he can easily take them both out and make it look like he was scared for his life boo-hoo.
Harvey your pathetic, you stand for everything I hate about the SPD.
misjustice on September 22 at 7:00 a.m.
No surprise; I would, however, like to watch sometime when Harvey is walking on water.
garmiester on September 22 at 7:20 a.m.
First in the State of Washington and even in the United States, we have the right to remain silent in lieu of self incrimination. Jeff Harvey advised his sons that they have the right to remain silent and they have the right to counsel with an attorney. These rights are addressed in the Miranda warning cards that each officer is either required to carry or recite per bedim. These warnings are required when an officer restricts an individual movements and questions him or her in an inquisitive matter. Wild life Officer Spurbeck is aware of these warnings when he said that as a fellow officer, he didn’t think he should have been treated that way. Personally maybe Officer Spurbeck should ride with the Spokane City Police Officer and he would see that same type of attitude from citizens they contact on a daily basis. I am not condoning Jeff Harvey’s actions, but Officer Spurbeck should have taken the information he had at time and forward it to the prosecutor or his superior for a follow up investigation. If he felt that Jeff Harvey was un professional, he should have contacted the Spokane Police dept. to file complaint. As the Jurors stated this should have never gotten to the court system.
FINALLY I have been in law enforcement for over thirty five years and YES I have called in sick when I was not. You cannot ask anyone in any work place that has not done the same thing. I have known Jeff Harvey for over thirty years and believe that he is a professional and if I needed back up, I would thank my lucky stars that he had my back. In fact Jeff Harvey has and I am lucky to know him.
Gary Redmond
brianrbreen on September 22 at 7:33 a.m.
@misjustice
The only surprise for me was that it was 5-1 instead of 6-zip. As far as water walking is concerned the Chief, City Attorneys, and the Mayor only exacerbated that with their stupidity.
@ TheRoy
Never heard that from me, I knew long before even people at the SPD did.
Ron_the_Cop on September 22 at 8:06 a.m.
Well said Garmiester,
As I said in the earlier thread:
When I learned that Attorney Bob Dunn was representing Det. Harvey in his civil case, I knew there must be more to this case than had been previously reported. As I said earlier I hope Chief Kirkpatrick et al did mind their P’s & Q’s on this one regarding the termination of Det. Harvey. Did they rely on things in Det. Havery’s personnel file that should have been purged for statutory/MOU time tolling reasons - more than a certain number of years since the occurrence. While perhaps well intentioned her track record on making these terminations stick hasn’t been stellar. Why?
Having been a police union president Det. Harvey’s termination by Chief Kirkpatrick could have been a payback for his union activities. Chief Kirkpatrick accused me of libeling her on an issue of receiving emails that came up when I was researching the Creach OIS. I wrote Chief Kirkpatrick and the City Attorney who she referred this to and asked specifically how Iibeled her and I would immediately issue a correction. They never responded or issued a retraction. Go figure. For more details read my piece:
Mayor Verner kicks the Otto Zehm death cover up down the road again - http://tinyurl.com/3h49dgd
Look I know people have concerns about unions but there are times when they serve a useful purpose when management crosses the line and violates due process rights. I’ve been outspoken that the Guild has done itself no favors while they do have some legitimate issues with Chief Kirkpatrick their actions have been spun against them.
DickAdams on September 22 at 9:38 a.m.
Double standards. Nothing new. Justice system has been broken for a long time. Heck, I remember years ago, a superior court judge got caught driving the wrong way on the freeway, and double standards were applied for him at that time.
brianrbreen on September 22 at 10:33 a.m.
As far as Mr. Cossey is concerned, he may have learned a lesson from this case. Never, ever allow a juror who might even remotely be associated with a law enforcement agency that works closely with your clients agency. You just don’t know what to expect.
Ron_the_Cop on September 22 at 12:59 p.m.
Brian,
Do enlightened us about the juror. Come on you know better than to drop a teaser in this venue;-)
brianrbreen on September 22 at 2:17 p.m.
Look Ron,
Just to make things plain, I don’t like Jeff Harvey, and he doesn’t like me. In my opinion he should have been fired years ago. That’s not the point, the point is that despite my opinion of Jeff Harvey he got screwed and it makes no difference what people think of you no one should want someone to get screwed to prove a self-serving point. I won’t comment any further regarding the jury except to say that Cossey made a wrong decision otherwise it would have been 6-zip.
IN MY OPINION the problem that Harvey now faces is do you take the money and go ahead and hunt and fish anywhere for the rest of your life or do you fight the battle. My council to him is take the money and the medals and go. The next administration might know what they are doing. In four years no one will remember exactly what happened except that Kirkpatrick tried to bolster her credibility with what she tried to do with you.
Ron_the_Cop on September 22 at 2:35 p.m.
Thx Brian. Understood & understand.