YAKIMA — A case that sparked heated criticism of Spokane police and city officials and repeated calls for reform got under way with opening arguments Thursday for an officer accused of using excessive force in the 2006 death of a mentally ill man.
Federal prosecutors contend Officer Karl Thompson brutally beat a citizen who posed no threat and disgraced his badge by lying about it afterward. The defense, meanwhile, countered that the veteran officer used his training and experience to make a split-second decision to protect himself and the public.
Thompson is not accused of killing Otto Zehm, a 36-year-old schizophrenic man, in a convenience store March 18, 2006, but of violating Zehm’s civil rights by using excessive force and lying to investigators after the encounter. He has pleaded not guilty.
Zehm was the subject of a police search after two teenagers erroneously reported that he might have stolen money at an ATM. Thompson was the first officer to respond and located Zehm, with long blond hair and wearing a black jacket and jeans, in a Zip Trip convenience store.
Surveillance video of the encounter shows Thompson rushing up to Zehm, knocking him to the ground and repeatedly striking him with a police baton. According to police reports, officers later hogtied and sat on Zehm.
He died two days later without ever regaining consciousness. A medical examiner ruled the death a homicide and said Zehm died from lack of oxygen to the brain due to heart failure while being restrained on his stomach.
The trial had to be moved from Spokane to Yakima because of publicity.
The case is about a police officer who chose to strike first and ask questions later, leaving a man battered and beaten, federal prosecutor Victor Boutros told jurors.
Thompson had no reason to believe the situation was tense or dangerous, Boutros said, and later knew he was wrong because he repeatedly lied afterward.
Thompson, 64, is a veteran officer with decades of law enforcement experience who worked as a patrolman, hostage negotiator and as a member of a crisis intervention team since joining the Spokane Police Department in 1997, defense attorney Oreskovich said.
Thompson rushed inside the store, not knowing if Zehm was armed, he said. When Zehm turned with a soda pop bottle in his hands, Thompson ordered him to drop it and moved quickly when Zehm didn’t comply.
“A struggle ensued, a very violent struggle,” Oreskovich said.
But, he said, the evidence will show that the officer acted not with bad purpose, but to protect the public and himself as he was trained. He said Thompson would testify on his own behalf.
Oreskovich repeatedly objected to the prosecution’s opening statement, claiming it depicted Zehm as an innocent man who was in the convenience store buying a soda pop.
U.S. District Court Judge Fred Van Sickle had previously prohibited prosecutors from telling the jury that Zehm was innocent on the night of the confrontation. The defense also asked for a mistrial before the lunch break, but Van Sickle rejected that motion.
The trial is expected to last up to six weeks.
Spokane Mayor Mary Verner has said she will launch a thorough review of Zehm’s death, but only after the legal cases are finished.
The city still faces a civil lawsuit filed by the family.
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