KENNEWICK — Florida attorney Jose Baez has joined a prominent civil rights attorney in representing family members of a Pasco orchard worker killed by police.
Baez and Benjamin Crump held a press conference Friday in Orlando to confirm that a third autopsy in the case was performed by a Florida doctor. The Herald reported Thursday that Crump was planning to have the body independently examined.
Antonio Zambrano-Montes’ parents asked Baez and Crump to represent them after seeing their work in other cases, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
Baez is best known for representing Casey Anthony, who was acquitted in 2011 of first-degree murder in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. Crump represents the family of Michael Brown, the unarmed black teen who was shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo, and the family of Trayvon Martin, who was killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Fla.
Baez and Crump flew Zambrano-Montes’ body to Orlando on Thursday night and commissioned forensic pathologist Dr. Werner Spitz, who also was involved in the Anthony case, to conduct an autopsy, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
“We wanted to make sure our autopsy is in line with that of the coroner’s inquest, and that of Pasco as well,” Baez said.
The third autopsy shows Zambrano-Montes was shot five to six times, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
The father of two was killed Feb. 10 during a confrontation with three Pasco police officers across from Fiesta Foods.
“Without the information of the first autopsy, the second and third will leave more questions than answers,” Baez said as Zambrano-Montes’ body was on a plane back to Washington, the Orlando Sentinel reported. “However, there are some things that can be ascertained from looking at these autopsies.”
One shot struck Zambrano-Montes’ chin, fracturing a bone there, Baez said in the Orlando Sentinel story. Another seems to have gone through his right arm, into his chest, through his lungs and heart, then into his left arm, Baez said.
“Because of the inability to have the body at its most pristine form, we can’t necessarily determine the actual direction of this at this time,” Baez said. “This will be cleared up upon receiving the photos and autopsy report from the first autopsy.”
Another shot went through the right arm and into his abdomen.
Baez said he could not determine whether a bullet wound from Zambrano-Montes’ groin to near his buttocks came from the front or the back, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
There were another one or two wounds on Zambrano-Montes’ abdomen that may have come from bullets, Baez said in the Orlando Sentinel article.
Zambrano-Montes reportedly threw at least one rock in the direction of the officers before running across an intersection at 10th Avenue and Lewis Street. A special unit of local police is investigating the shooting.
The investigation is expected to take several more weeks. Franklin County Prosecutor Shawn Sant will ultimately decide if the three officers should be held criminally responsible.
Two other autopsies have already been performed and preliminary reports show they conflict with one another.
An initial autopsy conducted by Dr. Sig Menchel, who was hired by Franklin County, showed Zambrano-Montes was shot five or six times, police said. Kennewick police Sgt. Ken Lattin, spokesperson for the special unit, told reporters this week that Zambrano-Montes was not shot in the backside.
Another autopsy performed by Dr. Carl Wigren revealed Zambrano-Montes was shot in the left buttocks and the back of the right arm. Wigren’s report said Zambrano-Montes was shot six to seven times.
Wigren was hired by Charles Herrmann, a Tacoma attorney representing Zambrano-Montes’ widow and two daughters.
