Coroner’s inquest into fatal Pasco shooting to start Dec. 12

A coroner’s inquest into the 2015 fatal shooting of Antonio Zambrano-Montes is on track to start in two weeks in Pasco.

Zambrano-Montes, 35, was killed after Pasco police responded to reports of a man throwing rocks at passing cars in a downtown intersection.

Three officers fired 17 shots at the Pasco man, who was high on methamphetamine at the time.

Franklin County Coroner Dan Blasdel has stood by his intentions to hold the inquest, despite many delays and opposition from politicians and law enforcement.

An inquest jury can make recommendations to prosecutors, but its decisions are advisory only.

Blasdel said Monday that subpoenas have been sent to about a dozen people to be questioned at the hearing beginning Dec. 12.

Potential witnesses include Officers Adam Wright and Adrian Alaniz, the forensic pathologist who handled the autopsy, a state evidence technician and a man who has enhanced the videos leading up to the shooting.

Seventy-five residents are being summoned to the Franklin County Courthouse for jury selection the first day.

Once a panel of six jurors and one alternate is seated, the inquest will move to the Gjerde Center at Columbia Basin College in Pasco.

Blasdel expects to have it wrapped up by Dec. 15.

Michael J. Fox, a retired King County Superior Court judge, will present the case.

The Franklin County Commission has approved a $35,000 supplemental budget to hire Fox.

Franklin County Prosecutor Shawn Sant already announced last year there was no evidence to suggest the three officers acted with malice. He declined to file charges.

Malice is the legal threshold to convict officers in fatal shootings.

Sant’s decision was upheld by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who was asked by Gov. Jay Inslee to review it.

And U.S. Attorney Michael Ormsby for Eastern Washington also declined criminal action, saying the evidence did not support convictions.

This story was originally published November 28, 2016 at 6:03 PM with the headline "Coroner’s inquest into fatal Pasco shooting to start Dec. 12."