KING COUNTY, Wash. — King County resumed inquests into deaths caused by law enforcement officers Tuesday following years of legal challenges.
Inquests are administrative, fact-finding investigations that occur whenever a law enforcement officer is involved in a shooting death.
The first inquest hearing to resume involves the shooting death of 19-year-old Damarius Butts in April 2017. Butts was shot and killed by Seattle police during an exchange of gunfire after allegedly robbing a 7-Eleven store. Three officers were injured in the shooting, including one officer who was shot in the face.
Proceedings are expected to last about two weeks. Michael Spearman will serve as the inquest administrator, according to Constantine’s office. Spearman is a retired King County Superior Court and Washington Court of Appeals judge.
Police shooting inquests have been delayed for years after King County Executive Dow Constantine paused inquests in 2018 to “address concerns of fairness and transparency and pushed forward with a new process built on stakeholder and community input.”
Constantine issued several executive orders concerning death inquests in 2018 that would provide attorneys to families of those killed by law enforcement through the Department of Public Defense and expanded the fact-finding scope of the inquest to include testimony about training and policies as well as determining if the officer involved followed protocol.
Several jurisdictions challenged the process in court, arguing it was not within Constantine's authority to make changes to the inquest process. However, their objections were largely struck down and the Washington State Supreme Court reaffirmed Constantine’s order in 2021.
Constantine issued an executive order in July 2021 to bring King County’s inquest process in line with a state Supreme Court ruling. The executive order allows for inquest panels to determine whether a person killed by law enforcement died by "criminal means," an amendment to a previous executive order fought for by family members of several people killed by King County law enforcement.
The executive orders previously barred law enforcement officers from participating in inquests unless they agreed to testify, but that was amended in another executive order in 2020. Officers may still be subpoenaed to testify at trial like any other witness.
"The road has been long, but I am thankful we can begin conducting inquests and providing the public with answers,” said Constantine. “The pandemic and legal challenges aside, building a process that the public can have faith in has been a difficult but necessary task, and I hope it can provide closure in these difficult and heartbreaking cases.”
Constantine’s office said there are seven inquests called. The hearing involving the death of Damarius Butts began Tuesday, and two others involving the deaths of Albert Fredericks and Robert Lightfeather are expected to begin in the next several months.
The King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office is reviewing dozens of other cases for inquest proceeding referrals, according to Constantine’s office.