The Lincoln City police have completed their internal investigation of the homicide death of Thomas Genge on March 12,1999, at the hands of police officers Craig Grabenhorst and Frank Harris. Not surprisingly, according to the report Review: Officers followed rules, by Matt Sabo in The Oregonian, 7/10/99, the department has found the cops "acted within department standards" and are "therefore found to be nonchargeable."
There seems to be an echo in Lincoln County, since the same conclusion was reached on March 31, 1999, by a county grand jury. (Does anyone know who it was that said, "That grand jury would indict a ham sandwich if the DA told it to?" We suspect it was a prohibition era mobster, perhaps even in a movie dialogue.)
On the other hand, according to an earlier Sabo report in The Oregonian, 7/02/99, Closure of excess-force case angers wife, and official Oregon State Police reports, an investigation by the OSP found Genge was a victim of intentional use of excessive force by Officer Grabenhorst prior to his death.
There is one significant contradiction in the Sabo report of 7/2/99. According to the reporter, the death blow was not captured on the police videotape. Likewise, a careful reading of officers Grabenhorst and Harris' official reports and the lengthy interviews of both officers by OSP Detective Molly Cotter does not include a single word about Grabenhorst dropping onto Genge's lower back with his knees, while Genge was lying on his side on the ground "under good control" by Officer Harris.
However, the Oregon State Police investigation, which found that Officer Craig Grabenhorst intentionally used excessive force against Genge, describes in clear detail the knee-drop which had sufficient force to break three ribs and, according to the autopsy report, inflicted a 6-inch laceration of the spleen which virtually went clear through the organ and pulverized its interior. The lead OPS Trooper handling the investigation, Frank F. Lamport, describes the blow in such detail that one would assume he either witnessed the event or saw it on the tape. Lamport states, "The technique (the knee drop) appears deliberate. The officer maintains his balance prior to, during and after the movement. His apparent stability is inconsistent with a loss of balance or fall." Trooper Lamport further distinguishes between the double-knee drop and a subsequent contact in which Grabenhorst "places one knee in the back of the suspect when attempting to apply handcuffs."
In any case, Lamport learned of the fatal knee drop somewhere, and if it doesn't show in the video as Sabo contends, and it doesn't appear in the officers' reports or in their official statements, there is a question as to whether the tape may have been altered - cutting out the death blow - after Trooper Lamport's investigation. (The Don Quixote Society Website has written Sabo to ask whether the reporter's viewing of the tape was the basis for the statement that the fatal blow was not shown. Sabo has not replied.)
The Don Q Website has also requested information from the Oregon State Justice Dept. and has applied to view the video tape as provided for by ORS 192.420 - 192.470. Insofar as the tape is the property of the Lincoln City Police Dept., it is assumed that it is a public document and is thus subject to public inspection upon request. If The Oregonian has access to the tape, the questions raised by the Sabo report deserve clarification.