Thomas Clouse

YAKIMA – One of the Spokane Police Department’s top trainers told a jury today that any situation could justify an officer’s use of force, even taking a burglary report in the victim’s home. The testimony of Officer Terry Preuninger sparked verbal battles between federal prosecutors and defense attorneys for Officer Karl F. Thompson Jr., who is expected to take the stand today to defend his actions during his encounter on March 18, 2006, with Otto Zehm.

Jurors got a taste today of the unpredictability that officers face through the testimony of the defensive tactics trainer who instructed Spokane Police Officer Karl F. Thompson Jr. how to use a baton.

YAKIMA – Spokane police Officer Steven Braun Jr. gave the jury an image of Otto Zehm as someone who probably had committed a robbery, was trying to flee and then struggled violently against Officer Karl F. Thompson Jr. Braun provided details of the confrontation not captured on surveillance video from the north Spokane Zip Trip. Braun, the second officer to respond that night, described what he heard from dispatchers on March 18, 2006.

A second defense expert has testified that head injuries suffered by Otto Zehm didn't come from a police baton. The Tuesday morning testimony by Dr. Dan Davis, a forensic pathologist, marked yet another day of wildly contradictory conclusions by court-recognized experts that jurors in the excessive force trial of Spokane police Officer Karl F. Thompson Jr. must sort out.

YAKIMA – After nearly two weeks of critical prosecution testimony, defense attorneys for Spokane police Officer Karl F. Thompson Jr. opened their case Monday with a medical doctor who told jurors Otto Zehm’s head injuries “couldn’t have” come from a police baton. The conclusion of Dr. James Nania, a longtime emergency room physician at Deaconess Medical Center in Spokane, contradicts testimony of Spokane County Medical Examiner Dr. Sally Aiken and another medical expert called by federal prosecutors last week, both of whom said bleeding under Zehm’s scalp was consistent with baton strikes.

Enough evidence of excessive force against Otto Zehm has been presented to let the case proceed, Judge Fred Van Sickle ruled today, rejecting defense arguments that one of the charges against Spokane police Officer Karl F. Thompson Jr. should be dropped.

YAKIMA – Two close friends and fellow officers of Karl F. Thompson Jr. gave the same basic reason why they earlier provided incriminating testimony against him in the case involving Otto Zehm: The government made me do it. Officer Sandy McIntyre – who considers Thompson a father figure – joined Officer Tim Moses in saying they believe that FBI agents intimidated them into testifying against Thompson, who faces felony charges of using unreasonable force and lying to investigators after the March 18, 2006, confrontation, from which Zehm later died.

YAKIMA – Two close friends and fellow officers of Karl F. Thompson Jr. gave the same basic reason why they earlier provided incriminating testimony against him in the case involving Otto Zehm: The government made me do it.

YAKIMA – After obtaining an immunity letter from the U.S. Department of Justice, Spokane police Officer Tim Moses testified he could not remember or disputed any incriminating things he previously said under oath against his friend Officer Karl F. Thompson Jr. Moses will continue his testimony today in the trial of Thompson, who faces felony charges of using unreasonable force and lying to investigators about the fatal 2006 confrontation with Otto Zehm.

YAKIMA – After obtaining an immunity letter from the U.S. Department of Justice, Spokane police Officer Tim Moses testified he could not remember or disputed any incriminating things he previously said under oath against his friend, Officer Karl F. Thompson Jr.

A medical doctor, who testified in the Los Angeles beating trial of Rodney King, testified for federal prosecutors today, saying he found evidence of three baton strikes to Otto Zehm's head and one to his neck.

YAKIMA – For the first time since the trial of Spokane police Officer Karl F. Thompson Jr. began last week, federal prosecutors walked out of the William O. Douglas federal courthouse Wednesday evening with smiles on their faces. The day began with U.S. District Court Judge Fred Van Sickle – who has sided with the defense in most major evidentiary rulings – allowing the testimony of a Zip Trip employee who is expected to tell jurors he saw Otto Zehm come in almost every day to buy candy bars and Pepsi products. 

For the first time since the trial of Spokane Police Office Karl F. Thompson Jr. began last week, federal prosecutors walked out of the William O. Douglas federal courthouse this evening with smiles on their faces.

YAKIMA – On the eve of his anticipated testimony, Assistant Spokane police Chief Jim Nicks disclosed to prosecutors that he believes Officer Karl F. Thompson Jr. tried to “manipulate” his testimony. Nicks is expected to be the first witness called today in the ongoing criminal trial of Thompson, who is charged with using unreasonable force and lying to investigators after his confrontation in 2006 with Otto Zehm.

On the eve of his anticipated testimony, Assistant Spokane Police Chief Jim Nicks disclosed to prosecutors that he believes Officer Karl F. Thompson Jr. tried to “manipulate” his testimony.

YAKIMA – Had the fatal confrontation with Otto Zehm been a mock scenario used in training, Spokane police Officer Karl F. Thompson Jr. would have failed, a use-of-force expert testified Monday. Robert Bragg, who directs use-of-force training for all police recruits at Washington’s police academy, said Thompson violated his training and had no reason to immediately begin striking Otto Zehm with a baton on March 18, 2006.

Had the fatal confrontation with Otto Zehm been a mock scenario used in training, Spokane Police Officer Karl F. Thompson Jr. would have flunked, a use-of-force expert testified on Monday.

YAKIMA – A defense request to throw out the excessive force case against Spokane police Officer Karl F. Thompson Jr. was denied following a fiery exchange Thursday about the prosecution’s portrayal of Otto Zehm as an average convenience store shopper. U.S. District Court Judge Fred Van Sickle warned federal prosecutors to be mindful of his order barring jurors from learning that Zehm hadn’t committed a crime when he was beaten by police in 2006. But the judge rejected defense attorney Carl Oreskovich’s argument that Victor Boutros, a U.S. Justice Department trial attorney, repeatedly violated the ban in his opening statements.

A defense request to throw out the excessive force case against Spokane police Officer Karl F. Thompson Jr. was denied following a fiery exchange today about prosecution portrayals of Otto Zehm as a regular shopper at a convenience store.

Otto Zehm’s death in 2006 polarized the community and sparked calls for reform. The complex legal battle over his death that followed has brought criticism of Spokane city leaders’ handling of the case and even morale problems within police ranks. Spokane police Officer Karl F. Thompson Jr.’s criminal trial is set to begin Wednesday. “The trust will come back when this case finally gets tried,” said veteran legal observer Tim Trageser, a local defense attorney. “We as citizens have to accept what those 12 jurors decide.”