After the encounter that led to Otto Zehm’s death, Spokane police Officer Karl Thompson told an investigator he didn’t feel deadly force was needed against the suspect. In a recorded interview with now-retired Spokane police Detective Terry Ferguson that was played for jurors today, Thompson said his first intent to was strike Zehm in the leg with his baton “to be able to buckle his leg and put him on the ground.” “I had deadly force available but I did not perceive this as a deadly threat,” Thompson said, adding that he wanted to continue issuing verbal commands. But, as prosecutors have told jurors, Thompson repeatedly struck Zehm in the head with a baton, which is considered deadly force. The recording outlines what prosecutors have said was nothing but a lie from Thompson — that Zehm lunged at him and fought with him using a plastic soda bottle. In the interview with Ferguson, Thompson, who is now on trial in Yakima for allegedly violating Zehm’s civil rights and lying to investigators, said Zehm posed a physical threat. “His whole body suggested that it was tense and prepared to respond either by pushing, throwing or charging me,” Thompson said. Thompson said Zehm was screaming and groaning like someone with “a high level of commitment to resisting or attacking.” He said Zehm took a “boxing stance” and threw punches, so Thompson hit anywhere he could with the baton, except the head. Thompson claimed Zehm stood up after being shocked with a Taser, which surveillance video disputes. Read the rest of the story here.