In brief: Thompson juror’s comments cited

Karl Thompson’s lawyers say jury forewoman Diane Riley’s statements to media this week are further evidence of the need to examine whether outside information was considered when Thompson was convicted of violating Otto Zehm’s civil rights and lying to investigators.

Riley told The Spokesman-Review no jurors considered information not presented at trial when they convicted Thompson, but she also said a juror knew someone who lived in Spokane and that politics here are “corrupt and dirty.”

“Whether there was or was not a police cover-up was not an issue to ever be considered by the jury,” lawyer Courtney Garcea wrote in a declaration filed Friday.

She also points to statements Riley made to KREM news that jurors suspected Otto Zehm may have been disabled by looking at photos of him as a sign that jurors improperly considered that information when reaching the verdict.

Riley’s statement that Zehm was taken from this Earth “because of the mistake and bad judgment of another man,” is another area of concern, Garcea argued.

In order to convict Thompson of using excessive force, jurors had to find that he acted with bad or evil intent. Garcea says Riley’s statement shows the jury erred in convicting Thompson, and that they inaccurately believed Thompson caused Zehm’s death.

Pancreatic cancer survivors invited

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network’s Inland Northwest affiliate is inviting pancreatic cancer survivors and supporters to a vigil for hope.

The vigil will be held 5 to 6 p.m. Sunday at the main entrance to Spokane City Hall, 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. The vigil commemorates National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month and is one of more than 55 PurpleLight National Vigil for Hope events across the U.S.

Bellevue toddler still missing

BELLEVUE – After nearly two weeks of searching, police said Friday they are still stymied in their search for a missing Washington toddler and released new photos of the family in hopes of sparking the memory of someone who might have seen the boy.

The new photos of 2-year-old Sky Metawala show an older child. The new photos of his mom, Julia Biryukova, are strikingly different from the ones she gave to police.

The new pictures police say were captured from surveillance video show a woman with much darker hair and looking somewhat haggard.

Bellevue Police Maj. Mike Johnson told a news conference they have gotten a few useful tips and investigators are hoping the more recent photos will attract more calls to the tip line.

When asked if there were legal grounds to arrest Biryukova and bring her in for questioning, Johnson said there probably were because of her actions on the morning of Sky’s disappearance. When asked why she hadn’t been brought in, he replied, “It’s a tactical, strategic, legal decision.”

Tutor sentenced for molestation

SEATTLE – A tutor who molested a second-grader at the Lummi Indian Nation Elementary School was sentenced in Seattle to six years in federal prison for aggravated sex abuse of a minor.

The U.S. attorney’s office says 47-year-old Harold Ravon Diggs of Lapwai, Idaho, molested the student in the 2002-’03 school year. The victim disclosed the abuse years later. Diggs was arrested in May.