SPOKANE, Wash. - A federal judge has rejected demands that former Spokane Police Officer Karl Thompson Jr. pay $825,000 in restitution to taxpayers and the family of Otto Zehm.
Thompson is imprisoned in Safford, Arizona. A jury convicted him of using excessive force and lying to investigators about the death of Zehm, an unarmed janitor.
A judge ruled the city of Spokane already accepted responsibility for its failure to adequately train and supervise the police force. The city paid Zehm's family $1.67 million to settle a civil lawsuit.
Federal prosecutors wanted Thompson to pay for several of Zehm's expenses. A judge said she is not entitled "to recover twice for the same losses."