Our Voice: Franklin County should pay for inquest

It’s time for the Franklin County commissioners to extend an olive branch to the county coroner.

Franklin County Coroner Dan Blasdel called for an inquest into the death of Antonio Zambrano-Montes almost immediately after the Pasco man was killed by police last year.

Not too long after that, other county officials deemed the inquest unnecessary.

State law provides that, “Any coroner, in his or her discretion, may hold an inquest if the coroner suspects that the death of a person was unnatural, or violent, or resulted from unlawful means, or from suspicious circumstances, or was of such a nature as to indicate the possibility of death by the hand of the deceased or through the instrumentality of some other person … .”

So it seems quite clear it is within Blasdel’s purview to hold an inquest.

But he has faced resistance on several fronts, including from county Prosecutor Shawn Sant, who said an inquest was unnecessary and a waste of taxpayer dollars, and Superior Court officials who told him no courtroom would be available for the proceeding.

County commissioners went so far as to allow the coroner to transfer money in his budget to prepare for the inquest in January, seeming like the path was finally clear for it to happen at a rented facility.

But then Blasdel received a letter from the commissioners in February telling him that the county won’t pay for it because he failed to present a budget for the inquest during the formal and mandatory county budgeting process.

Blasdel is holding his ground, accusing the commissioners of using intimidation to try to prevent the inquest.

The letter said Blasdel could be held personally liable for the cost of the inquest if he proceeded without the commissioners’ approval.

“To threaten me personally is simply not acceptable and will not be tolerated,” Blasdel wrote in the letter. “I am an elected official and threatening me personally is a bullying tactic and exceptionally uncouth.”

In a letter responding to the commissioners, the coroner said he will present two budgets for the proceeding, which is expected to take two weeks and have dozens of witnesses.

One budget shows the cost if the county prosecutor chooses to participate, which he has said he will not do. The other includes the cost for hiring a special prosecutor if that is the case, which would drive the price up as much as an additional $100,000, Blasdel estimates.

Blasdel says he’s moving forward with or without the commissioners’ blessing. He is also saying he will be using a courtroom after all, despite the judges’ concerns about disruptions and delays to other cases.

While this matter is beginning to feel like a political power struggle, Blasdel has said all along that inquests are rare and this is just the type of case they should be used for in order to provide the public with transparency and the facts of Zambrano-Montes’ death.

Even though the county prosecutor has declared the shooting justified and no charges were filed against the officers involved, a segment of the public still thinks there is more to the story. The resistance to the inquest makes them think there is something to hide.

Give the coroner the chance to put the matter to rest once and for all in a public forum.

This story was originally published February 18, 2016 at 3:59 PM with the headline "Our Voice: Franklin County should pay for inquest."