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Doug Clark
Opinion >  Column

Doug Clark: Many wrongs, one big right in Zehm case

Repentance is a concept normally relegated to cathedrals, chapels and bar stools just before closing time. But on Tuesday afternoon, a downtown mediation court was the sanctuary where the city of Spokane made amends to the family of the late Otto Zehm for civic sins committed.
News >  Spokane

Why city chose to blame Zehm remains unexplained

Spokane city leaders finally are admitting that mistakes were made during a 2006 police confrontation that led to the death of Spokane resident Otto Zehm. But it remains unclear if the city will answer a key question, one that officials have suggested for months would be explained. Why did city attorneys make official claims in 2009 that Zehm was responsible for his own death and that force used against him was “reasonable and necessary,” even though by that time then-Assistant Chief Jim Nicks had told a grand jury that the response likely violated department policy?
News >  Spokane

Otto Zehm family reaches settlement with Spokane

The family of Otto Zehm will get the apology they sought for more than six years as Spokane city officials agreed Tuesday to settle a civil lawsuit against nine police officers for $1.67 million. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Hogan, of Oregon, who directed the mediation along with Sandpoint attorney Ford Elsaesser, said Tuesday he will ensure that both sides get what they were promised as specific terms are ironed out in weeks to come.
News >  Spokane

Settlement in Zehm civil suit reached

A $1.67 million out-of-court settlement has been reached in the civil suit against Spokane police filed by relatives of Otto Zehm, the mentally ill janitor who died following a violent confrontation with officers after being mistakenly implicated in a possible theft.
News >  Spokane

Prosecutor compiling list of discredited officers

Spokane law enforcement officials for the first time are compiling a list of officers and deputies who have a record of lying or who have been discredited while doing their jobs. The so-called “Brady list” is part of a legal requirement to notify defense lawyers of any information that could be used to challenge the credibility of investigators.
News >  Spokane

City attorney fires Treppiedi

The architect of Spokane City Hall’s controversial handling of the fatal police confrontation with Otto Zehm was fired Monday, marking the latest fallout from the excessive force case that already has led to a federal conviction of a police officer and contributed to the ouster of former Mayor Mary Verner in last November’s election. Assistant City Attorney Rocky Treppiedi was dismissed Monday by City Attorney Nancy Isserlis.
News >  Spokane

Otto Zehm case: Police chief says ‘mistakes made’

For the first time, a high-ranking Spokane police official has publicly acknowledged that the department made troubling mistakes while investigating the 2006 confrontation that killed Otto Zehm. Interim Chief Scott Stephens, who in 2006 was in charge of the detectives assigned to the investigation, also acknowledged his “concern” that at the time Assistant City Attorney Rocky Treppiedi had greater access to the investigation than he did. Mayor David Condon, who took over City Hall in January, put an end to that kind of unfettered access to criminal investigations by city attorneys, Stephens said.
News >  Spokane

Police chief acknowleges mistakes in Zehm investigation

For the first time, a high-ranking Spokane police official has publicly acknowledged that the department made troubling mistakes while investigating the 2006 confrontation that killed Otto Zehm. In his most candid interview yet, interim Chief Scott Stephens also expressed “concern” that Assistant City Attorney Rocky Treppiedi had greater access to the investigation than he did, even though, at the time, Stephens supervised the detectives who investigated the Zehm confrontation.
News >  Spokane

Transcripts reveal officers were given three days to file Zehm report

Newly released documents show Spokane police officers involved in the deadly altercation with Otto Zehm were given three days to think about the incident before writing reports detailing the 2006 encounter, and when they were asked to file reports, did so in a group with the aid of an attorney hired by their union. The transcripts of grand jury testimony that remained secret for three years provide previously undisclosed details of how the Spokane Police Department managed the criminal investigation into the deadly confrontation with the 36-year-old, mentally ill janitor – an investigation that one high-ranking U.S. Justice Department official has said amounted to a cover-up.
News >  Spokane

Feds dispute misconduct allegations in Zehm case

The U.S. attorney’s office on Friday said allegations of prosecutorial misconduct by a forensic videographer – charges that have indefinitely stalled the sentencing of former Spokane police Officer Karl F. Thompson Jr. – are meritless and claimed the man lied about how he first became involved in the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Aine Ahmed filed scores of pages Friday detailing the pretrial and post-trial dealings with forensic video expert Grant Fredericks, who approached U.S. District Judge Fred Van Sickle with concerns only after a jury convicted Thompson in November of using excessive force and lying to investigators to cover up the fatal 2006 confrontation with Otto Zehm.
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