09/22/2006

Associated Press

A medical examiner has concluded that a plastic "spit" mask with a small breathing hole apparently did not contribute to Otto Zehm's death in a confrontation with Spokane police officers.

Spokane County Prosecutor Steve Tucker said he asked Medical Examiner Sally Aiken to review her previous findings to determine if the mask, which an officer placed over Zehm's mouth and nose, contributed to his death.

Aiken recently submitted her report, and "doesn't believe that contributed to his death," Tucker said. "The cause of death is unchanged."

Aiken ruled in May that Zehm died as a result of homicide, caused by lack of oxygen to the brain due to heart failure while being restrained on his stomach.

A lawyer representing Zehm's mother questioned the method Aiken used, saying the tests failed to duplicate the circumstances of the confrontation.

"The report in my mind doesn't affect the case at all because it doesn't attempt to measure what actually happened," said Breean Beggs of the Center for Justice, a public interest law firm in Spokane.

Zehm, 36, a mentally disabled janitor, was beaten, shocked and hogtied inside a convenience store by seven officers responding to a false robbery report March 18. He lapsed into a coma and died two days later.

He stopped breathing about three minutes after one of the officers obtained an oxygen non-rebreather mask from a paramedic and placed it on Zehm's face, apparently to keep him from spitting at officers. The mask — with a dime-sized hole in it — was not attached to an oxygen tank, according to police reports.

Tucker said Aiken asked an expert at Michigan State University to test the effects of the mask.

It "did not restrict airflow under stress," Tucker said. "They put one or two people on a treadmill and said the airflow was the same."

Aiken declined to comment on the investigation because of confidentiality laws.

Tucker said he is still waiting for a forensic expert to finish a review of surveillance videos from the convenience store. He won't rule on any possible criminal charges until that review is complete.

"I think it will be within days of getting the video and having a chance to review it," Tucker said. "I'm just waiting to see if it helps make up my mind."

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Information from: The Spokesman-Review, http://www.spokesmanreview.com