By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
Last week, King County Executive Dow Constantine issued a new executive order restructuring the inquest process to improve transparency, efficiency, and accountability in cases involving law enforcement-related deaths. The order establishes a multidisciplinary panel to evaluate law enforcement practices, streamline inquest proceedings, and recommend reforms to enhance public safety for both community members and officers.
Under the King County Charter, an inquest is required whenever an interaction with law enforcement or corrections officers plays a significant role in a person’s death. Inquests serve as fact-finding, administrative inquiries into the causes and circumstances surrounding these incidents.
“Families deserve accountability,” said Constantine. “Officers deserve fairness, and the public deserves a clear, unbiased account of what happened in the case of an officer-involved death.”
According to Amy Enbysk, Press Secretary for the Office of the King County Executive, only the County Executive has the authority to convene an inquest.
“King County is required by our charter to conduct inquests into deaths caused by law enforcement or a corrections officer in the course of their duties,” Enbysk said. “Only the County Executive is vested with the power to call inquests.”
King County has conducted inquests for decades, with the executive authority over the process dating back years. Since 2018, inquests have been managed by the King County Inquest Program, though legal challenges delayed proceedings for several years. In 2021, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled in favor of resuming inquests under an updated executive order, leading to 21 hearings conducted under the revised system.
The Supreme Court’s ruling significantly changed the focus of inquests, making proceedings more adversarial and causing significant delays. Many participants, including families of the deceased, expressed concerns about the emotional toll of drawn-out inquests, which often forced them to relive traumatic events. Under the new executive order, inquests will be completed within 12 months of a person’s death, a major shift from previous cases that sometimes took years to conclude.
Families of the deceased will have expanded opportunities to participate. They can now meet with Inquest Program attorneys, secure their own legal representation, and provide input on the case. Inquest proceedings will remain open to the public, with livestreaming and recorded sessions available.
“Inquest proceedings are open to the public, including family members of the deceased,” said Enbysk. “They are also livestreamed online, and recordings made available. Under the new executive order, family members can choose to meet with the Inquest Program Attorney(s) as they prepare the case. The family members can also have legal representation during the meeting(s) if they choose. They can obtain their own legal counsel or, under the County Charter, request counsel to be provided by King County.”
Key changes in the new executive order, include:
• Faster Completion Times – Inquests will now be completed within 12 months of a person’s death by focusing on the core investigative function, a major change from the previous process where inquests often occurred years after a deadly use-of-force incident happened.
• Creation of the Deadly Incident Review and Recommendation Panel – This new Panel will meet regularly to review the outcome of inquest proceedings and law enforcement practices and policies to develop recommendations for consideration by community members and policymakers. Previously, once inquest juries completed interrogatories there was no further review of a case. This new, all-volunteer panel will have expertise in law enforcement accountability, civil rights law, mental health, academia, and judicial practice. It will also include a person whose family member died after an interaction with a law enforcement or corrections officer.
• Updates To Inquest Hearing Participants – The inquest hearing participants will now include the Inquest Administrator, Inquest Program attorney(s), witnesses, and the jury. Counsel from the parties involved in the deadly use-of-force incident will have the opportunity to present their view of the matter to the inquest attorneys but will not be direct participants in the inquest itself.
While much will change under the new Executive Order, some aspects of the current process will remain, including:
• The comprehensive gathering of records and other evidence from all available sources to inform the inquest.
• Inquest Administrators, who are retired judges, will continue to preside over hearings as a neutral party.
• Hearings will continue to be live streamed online, with recordings made available afterward, to promote transparency and understanding of the process.
The following will be the first cases reviewed using the updated inquest process:
• The death of Shaun Fuhr, which occurred on April 29, 2020.
• The death of River Hudson, which occurred on May 6, 2020.
• The death of Denis Rodriguez Martinez, which occurred on February 7, 2019.
• The death of Ryan Smith, which occurred on May 8, 2019.
In addition, the death of Isaiah Obet, which occurred on June 10, 2017, will proceed now that former officer Jeff Nelson has been sentenced in his criminal case.
Considering these developments, Constantine worked with partners and legal counsel to draft the new executive order to update the county’s inquest process. As the state Office of Independent Investigations (OII) comes online over the next few years, improved death investigations will further enhance the inquest process. The new executive order is effective immediately, and the new Deadly Incident Review and Recommendation Panel is expected to be convened for the first time late this spring after a nomination process is completed.
“This streamlined inquest process will deliver objectivity while easing the emotional toll on all involved,” said Constantine. “And it will allow more effective review of officer training and use-of-force policies to help jurisdictions improve procedures and minimize the chance of deadly encounters involving law enforcement.”
