Northwest Briefs November 4, 2011

Officer in Zehm case may be detained until sentencing

SPOKANE (AP) - A federal judge is expected to rule today on whether to detain until sentencing a Spokane police officer convicted of using excessive force in the 2006 death of a mentally ill man.

Federal prosecutors sought to immediately take Karl Thompson into custody Thursday. Defense attorneys fought the motion.

U.S. Magistrate Judge James Hutton delayed his ruling until this morning. Hutton's decision came after defense attorney Carl Oreskovich said he would seek a new trial because he witnessed jurors watching television reports of the first one.

A jury convicted Thompson of violating the civil rights of 36-year-old Otto Zehm by using excessive force and of lying about their encounter to investigators. Zehm died two days after the encounter in a convenience store.

Colville tribes worry wolves hurt hunting

AIRWAY HEIGHTS, Wash. (AP) - The Colville Indian Tribes are worried that the state's proposed wolf management plan may hurt subsistence hunting by its members.

The tribes told members of the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission on Thursday that a plan to restore at least five breeding pairs of wolves in Eastern Washington has the potential to reduce herds of elk, deer and moose on its reservation.

Tribal members harvest up to 1,000 deer, 400 elk and 50 moose each year, and worry a large increase in the number of wolves will increase competition for the animals.

"We have 60 percent unemployment on our reservation," Joe Peone of the Colville Tribes Fish and Wildlife Department told the commission. "To be able to rely on subsistence hunting is critical."

The commission held the final public meeting on its proposed plan in the Spokane suburb of Airway Heights. Final action on the wolf plan is expected at its December meeting.

Three of the state's five known breeding packs are located in the northeast, where the tribe's reservation is located, Peone said.

The tribe wants to ensure the state wolf management plan provides a balance between the needs of wolves and hunters, Peone said.

The state plan, released this summer after several years of work, calls for the return of 15 successful breeding pairs in the state for three consecutive years before removing endangered species protections from the animals.