What is most disturbing to me about the Doug Ostling case

What is most disturbing about the Doug Ostling case on Bainbridge Island, Washington, is the similarity to the murder of Otto Zehm in Spokane, Washington; and the murder of Kelly Thomas in Fullerton, California.  All three victims had a diagnosis of schizophrenia, none of the victims had come into contact with the Officers who killed them because they had committed a crime; and none of the men had threatened the Police Officers who murdered them.  In all three of three cases, the Police Officers involved and their superior Officers were dishonest about the chain of events which lead to their victim's being killed.  Three beloved sons are mourned by their families; because of criminal conduct of Police Officers. All three men were killed by men who abdicated their responsibility to the communities they serve, and then sought to avoid being held accountable for their criminal conduct by lying.  Three homicide victims, who were vulnerable adults were killed by men who had a sworn duty to protect and to serve them...

I know it doesn't have to be this way---I don't have words to express how grateful I am that my son, who is also a young man with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, has always been treated with respect by the Officers in the Yakima Police Department, and the Yakima County Sheriff's Department. I

via The Seattle Times:
Bainbridge seeks new trial on award in police shooting

A jury awarded $1 million to the family of a mentally ill man who was killed by police in 2010.

The city of Bainbridge Island is challenging a federal jury's decision to award $1 million to the family of a mentally ill man who was fatally shot by Bainbridge police in 2010.

The Kitsap Sun reported that attorneys for the city are asking a federal judge to halt the June 1 decision. The city wants a new trial, saying Bainbridge Police Chief Jon Fehlman, who had fallen ill, did not have a chance to defend himself during the trial.

Doug Ostling was shot and killed in his apartment in 2010. His family sued.

This month, the jury rejected the family's claims that officers illegally entered Ostling's bedroom, used excessive force and failed to help him after he was shot. But jurors found the Police Department failed to properly train its officers in dealing with the mentally ill.  

via The Seattle Times

Originally published February 25, 2012 at 8:05 PM | Page modified February 26, 2012 at 3:37 PM

Two cops, an ax and many questions on Bainbridge

What happened when two Bainbridge Island officers clashed with a mentally ill 911 caller raises serious concerns about police hiring and the Department's competence.

By Jonathan Martin and Ken Armstrong

Seattle Times staff reporters -- First of two parts

an excerpt:
The minutes pass
The radio call — "Shots fired!" — came in 4 minutes and 50 seconds after the officers had arrived at the house.

Bill and Joyce wanted to run up the stairs, to check on their son. But the police wouldn't let them, saying it would be unsafe. Bill went and grabbed a 40-foot ladder so he could look through a skylight into Doug's room. Police intercepted him, saying he couldn't do that, either.

Within an hour, at least 17 officers arrived: Bainbridge, Kitsap County, Washington State Patrol. Police shepherded Doug's parents to a secluded part of the house, away from the garage. Minutes passed, without word. "I just knew in my soul they had shot him and he was dead," Joyce says. "I could just feel it."

As Doug lay in his room, bleeding, police dealt with him as a barricaded suspect. They waited on a SWAT team. They waited for medical aid. They called Doug's room and got voice mail. Police searched for the key that had been put in the lock. They considered ramming the door. They considered using that 40-foot ladder to do what Ostling's father had wanted to do.

More minutes passed.

Both of the Ostlings' daughters were at the house when the shooting occurred. Police told the family they needed to leave. Kim, in slippers, left without her brace. She marched the long driveway on the edge of her foot, in pain.

"We were treated worse than a bad dog by the Police Department," Bill says.

An hour and 17 minutes after the shots were fired, police peered through a skylight into Ostling's room; he was behind the door, his body still.

He had bled out and died.

The shooter goes on Facebook

The next day, Bainbridge Island Police Chief Jon Fehlman held a news conference. He described Ostling's death in a way that was dramatic — and dramatically untrue.

When police arrived, Ostling was in the driveway, "yelling and screaming and acting very aggressive toward the officers," Fehlman told reporters. The officers tried to calm him. But Ostling "came at the officers several times. They tried to deflect him, just push him away."

The officers used a Taser, but that didn't work. Ostling retreated to a garage apartment "and retrieved an ax and came back at the officers with the ax raised above his head." An officer fired, Fehlman said. Ostling then went back inside his apartment and "barricaded the door."

So much of Fehlman's story was wrong. There was no confrontation in the driveway. Ostling didn't retreat to go get a weapon. He didn't raise the ax over his head.

When Fehlman spoke, Benkert had yet to be interviewed about why he fired.

The Police Department's regulations say an officer using deadly force must submit to an investigative interview within 24 hours. But Benkert was advised by a police-guild attorney not to do so. So he didn't.

The Kitsap County Sheriff's Office investigated, and two months later, prosecutors said Benkert would not be charged with a crime. By this point Benkert still had not been interviewed. Kitsap County Prosecutor Russ Hauge, explaining his decision, wrote that when Benkert fired, Ostling was "standing over" Portrey, with an ax "raised over his head."

The following month, in January 2011, Benkert finally sat down for an interview.

An internal review by Fehlman's second-in-command subsequently concluded that all department personnel followed policy and "acted reasonably under the circumstances and within the scope of the law."

Bill and Joyce Ostling hired Jack Connelly, a Tacoma attorney, and filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Bainbridge Island, Benkert and Fehlman, saying the shooting was unjustified. Trial is scheduled for May.

Last month, a lawyer in Connelly's firm took Benkert's deposition.

"Is it possible that he wasn't coming over to attack you or your partner, but that he was coming over to close the door?" the lawyer asked.

"It's possible," Benkert said.

"Did he ever raise the ax above his head?"

"Not that I saw."

And later:

"Is it possible that Douglas Ostling was actually behind the door at the time that you opened fire on him?"

"Not completely."

"How about almost entirely?"

"I don't know."

Connelly took Fehlman's deposition a couple of weeks later and grilled him about the story he'd told the media. Fehlman blamed underlings for feeding him bad information. When he learned of the inaccuracies, he alerted city officials in a private session, Fehlman said.

"Did you ever go to the press and say, 'I gave you a false report?' " Connelly asked.

"No," Fehlman said. The police chief said he did not believe he was ethically obliged to correct his account to the public.

Although Benkert went months without providing any formal statement about the shooting, he did address it on Facebook.

A week after the shooting, an officer with the LAPD sent Benkert this message: "Hey man how you doing? Heard you did some combat qual???!!!"

The next day, Benkert responded: "no sweat here ... bad guy should have listened a little better."

News researcher Miyoko Wolf contributed to this report. Jonathan Martin: 206-464-2605 orjmartin@seattletimes.com. On Twitter @jmartin206. Ken Armstrong: 206-464-3730 or karmstrong@seattletimes.com

read here

Bainbridge Police Guild Requests Removal of Chief Fehlman with No Confidence Vote here

Spokane Police Officer, Karl Thompson, Convicted of Civil Rights and Obstruction Violations

Otto Zehm

via the The United States Department of Justice:

Department of Justice

Office of Public Affairs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Spokane, Wash., Police Officer Convicted of Civil Rights and Obstruction Violations in Connection with Beating Otto Zehm

"WASHINGTON – A federal jury today convicted Spokane, Wash., Police Officer Karl F. Thompson Jr., 64, of civil rights and obstruction charges stemming from his March 18, 2006, beating of an unarmed citizen and an extensive cover-up that followed, the Justice Department announced.   Following a taser deployment and a rapid series of baton blows to the head, neck and body, the victim Otto Zehm, 36, was hogtied, stopped breathing, and was transported to the hospital, where he died two days later.   Thompson claimed the beating was justified because he felt threatened by a plastic bottle of soda the victim was holding."  

"The evidence at trial established that on the evening of March 18, 2006, the victim went to a Zip Trip convenience store to buy soda and snacks.   Security video introduced at trial showed that the victim shopped for soda, Thompson ran into the store, drew his baton and continued to run toward the victim from behind.   Witnesses testified that the victim appeared to be completely unaware of Thompson charging towards him as he selected a plastic bottle of soda to purchase.  As the victim turned toward the candy aisle, he saw Thompson rushing towards him with his baton raised. According to trial testimony and store security video, less than 2.5 seconds after the victim turned to see the Thompson running towards him, Thompson delivered two overhand baton blows to the victim’s head, knocking him backwards onto the floor.   Witnesses testified that Thompson then stood over the victim and fired taser probes down into chest as he was in the fetal position on the floor beneath him.   The victim never returned to his feet, but Thompson continued to deliver overhand baton blows, including a final flurry of seven baton strikes in eight seconds, which was captured by the convenience store’s security cameras."  

"Evidence at trial established that Thompson went to the convenience store after two teenagers reported that a man fitting the victim’s description had approached a drive-up ATM on foot as they were conducting a transaction, and they felt uncomfortable.  After the teenagers pulled away from the ATM, they were unsure whether they had cancelled their transaction.   They reported that the man who had been standing near them, approached the ATM and left with something in his hands that looked like money.   Prior to Thompson’s first strike, dispatchers made clear that the complainants were not sure whether the man at the ATM had taken any of their money.   One of the women at the ATM who called 911 that night testified at trial that she was horrified by Thompson’s rapid series of overhand baton blows to the victim."

"Testimony at trial established that Thompson never asked the victim any questions or even mentioned the ATM.   Witnesses testified that the victim’s last words were: “All I wanted was a Snickers.”   The Spokane Police Department investigated charges against the victim based on a report by Thompson that he had assaulted him.   However, the victim was never charged with theft or robbery, and evidence at trial established that police officers found his paycheck on him."  

"Thompson gave his report of the incident on March 22, 2006, after he knew the victim had died.  In his report, Thompson denied hitting the victim in the head with his baton because that would have constituted deadly force, which he acknowledged was not justified in this case.  However, trial testimony established that Thompson admitted to Spokane Police Officer Timothy Moses on-scene that night that he had struck the victim in the head and neck with his baton.  Witnesses and medical testimony also confirmed that Thompson had delivered baton blows to the victim’s head and neck."

                                    Karl Thompson: 

The rest of the DOJ announcement:

“We are grateful for the jury’s verdict, which vindicates the rights of Otto Zehm,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.  “The defendant was given considerable power to enforce the law, but instead he abused his authority when he brutally beat an innocent man.  This prosecution reflects the department’s commitment to prosecuting official misconduct cases, and today’s conviction sends a message that such violent abuse of power will not be tolerated.”

The defendant faces a maximum penalty of up to 30 years in prison.  

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Spokane Field Office, and was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Victor Boutros of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy Durkin and Aine Ahmed of the Eastern District of Washington.

1-1444                                                                                                                                                  Civil Rights Division

via The Spokesman Review:

Feds hint at broader problems with SPD

Nov. 3, 2011 12:54 p.m.  Could a broader federal probe of the Spokane Police Department be under way?

Although U.S. Attorney Mike Ormsby joined other community leaders Wednesday in cautioning against drawing too many conclusions from the excessive force conviction of Spokane police Officer Karl F. Thompson Jr., indications are growing that federal authorites are troubled by what they found here.

The U.S. Justice Department, on its homepage today, openly describes the case against Thompson as involving “an extensive cover up” following the fatal March 18, 2006 confrontation. In its news release announcing Thompson's conviction on charges of using excessive force in the beating of unarmed janitor Otto Zehm and lying about it to investigators, the agency noted that, “Thompson claimed the beating was justified because he felt threatened by a plastic bottle of soda the victim was holding.”

Federal authorities confirm that at least one additional Spokane police officer - Sandy McIntyre - has received a target letter stemming from the Zehm fatality. Target letters indicate evidence is being presented to a grand jury that could lead to indictment against the recipients.

Additionally, Spokane Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said Wednesday that potential internal investigations against other officers over their handling of the Zehm tragedy won't be considered until federal authorities have notified her that their investigations are done, which hasn't happened yet. read it here.

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Otto Zehm Photo credit khq.com