SPOKANE — Six years after the death of Otto Zehm at the hands of Spokane police, the only officer convicted in the case will be sentenced Thursday.
Officer Karl F. Thompson Jr. was convicted by a federal jury of using excessive force and then lying to investigators in a case that shook public confidence in the Spokane Police Department.
Federal prosecutors have asked U.S. District Court Judge Fred Van Sickle to sentence Thompson to 10 years in prison.
Defense lawyers are asking that the 65-year-old Thompson, a 40-year police veteran, receive no prison time.
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