Men allege excessive force, seek recompense

A civil trial started Tuesday brought by two men who claim that Spokane police officers used excessive force when they applied Tasers a total of 11 times during a 2003 arrest.

Jonathan M. Passmore, 30, and Jeremiah D. Kohr, 25, are asking a judge to order the city to pay $10,000 for each of the 11 times officers used Tasers during the arrest, their attorney, Russell Van Camp, said. The civil trial started Tuesday before Superior Court Judge Maryann Moreno.

Even though Passmore suffered two cracked ribs and a collapsed lung, both he and Kohr were charged with third-degree assault against the officers in connection with the Nov. 10, 2003, confrontation.

However, a jury acquitted Passmore of that charge, and prosecutors refused to go forward on the case against Kohr, Van Camp said.

“When (officers) assault somebody, they’ve got to charge them to cover it up,” Van Camp said. “Most people don’t have the resources to deal with it.”

Assistant City Attorney Ellen O’Hara denied in court records that officers Tyler Cordis, Craig Hamilton and Justin Lundgren used any excessive force.

“Both Passmore and Kohr … admit that Passmore was resisting arrest, admit that the (T)aser applications were not effective, admit that he continued to struggle and act aggressively until he decided to ‘quit,’ ” O’Hara said in court records. “If it weren’t for his size and state of intoxication, and the fact that he kept ripping out the (T)aser probes, the first (T)aser jolt would have sufficed to get his cooperation.

“Passmore cannot now validly complain that the force was ‘excessive’ when he was the one who exacerbated the situation in the first place.”

The case started in the early hours of Nov. 10, 2003, when officers Cordis and Hamilton responded to the Top Hat Tavern at 6412 N. Division on a call of slashed tires. Witnesses described the suspects, and officers later located Kohr at his home at 5004 N. Russell.

During the interview, both Kohr and Passmore admitted to slashing the tires of another bar patron at the Top Hat, according to court records.

Cordis then attempted to take Passmore into custody when he resisted, according to the police report.

“Officers attempted to continue physical control measures, however, such control measures and subsequently multiple (T)aser applications were unsuccessful in subduing Mr. Passmore,” according to the report.

The officers claimed that Passmore kicked Hamilton in the leg and punched Cordis in the hand while ordering them to shoot him. “Officer Cordis applied a power jab to Mr. Passmore’s rib area” with his night stick, but Passmore quickly recovered and ran toward the officers.

At one point, Passmore escaped the officers’ grasp and ran toward Kohr. Passmore then allowed his friend to complete the job of putting the handcuffs on his wrists in the hope that it would stop the beating, according to court records.

Once Kohr handcuffed Passmore, the officers took Passmore down and held him in the prone position, according to the police report. Hamilton then grabbed Passmore by the back of the neck “and smashed his face into the concrete,” Van Camp wrote.

Kohr then approached the officers and yelled, “Hey!”

According to the police report, the officers believed Kohr was about to assault them. Lundgren then shocked Kohr four times with a Taser.

But according to Van Camp’s complaint, Kohr was simply trying to approach so he could prevent Passmore from falling face first into the concrete.

“Plaintiff Kohr feared that (the officers) would kill Plaintiff Passmore due to the brutality of the beating being inflicted and yelled to the Defendants to stop,” Van Camp wrote, who added that Lundgren stomped on Kohr’s back when he tried to get up.

Fire crews arrived, and they used needle-nosed pliers to remove the Taser probes from both Kohr and Passmore.