Discussion:
Seattle AA bank VP chokes to death on bag of cocaine
(too old to reply)
S. L'Gree
2004-09-23 04:39:40 UTC
Permalink
""She was completely noncompliant. Wild is the way she behaved." You just
can't make shit like this up: "Passengers continued to be screened through
the checkpoint as Whitmore died on the airport floor." Yeah, they figured
it was just another ghetto sow doing what came natural.


Inquest probes death of bank executive

Wednesday, September 22, 2004

Over and over, a Seattle bank executive's tragic choking death at
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport last fall was recounted at an inquest
hearing yesterday in Kent.

But as each witness told a different version of the story, it became clear
that a jury will hear little consensus on key details:

Was 52-year-old Desseria B. Whitmore trying to run when she was grabbed by
Port of Seattle police? Or was she sitting quietly when an officer suddenly
forced her to the ground and pinned her? Was she crying out in pain under
the officer's weight, or was she fighting wildly? Was she threatened with a
Taser? Was she handcuffed in the final moments of her life, or were her arms
freed when it became apparent that she wasn't able to breathe?

The King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office began the inquest this week so
that a jury can help determine the facts of the case, which prosecutors will
use to determine whether officers on the scene acted appropriately. The
inquest is expected to continue through Friday.

What so far has remained consistent is that Whitmore, an assistant vice
president at Bank of America and a youth volunteer, died behind a security
checkpoint after a struggle around 9:30 a.m. Oct. 25. A medical examiner
later determined that she died after choking on a small package of cocaine.

Whitmore and a friend had been on their way to Spokane to deal with
Whitmore's late father's estate when a screener found a pipe and a small
amount of marijuana in her luggage. She was asked to sit and wait for Port
of Seattle police.

Robin Harris, an Alaska Airlines employee, testified she saw Whitmore
gagging on something, which she then appeared to spit into her hand. It was
later determined to be a plastic package of cocaine, about the size of a
half-dollar.

The first witness to testify yesterday, Transportation Security
Administration (TSA) supervisor Derrick Harris, described Whitmore as "calm,
sitting in the chair, waiting for the process to be over" when a police
officer started asking her what was in her hand. When she failed to reply,
the officer "pulled her out of the chair" and took her to the floor, Harris
testified.

"Did she get up?" from the chair, prompting the officer's tackle, asked Jim
Frush, a lawyer for Whitmore's family. "Was she uncooperative?" "Did she
attempt to flee?" No, no and no, Harris replied.

But another TSA employee on the scene saw it differently. As the officer
questioned Whitmore, she turned and tried to run, TSA worker Roderick
Johnson testified. Only then did the officer grab her and pull her to the
ground, Johnson said.

"She was completely noncompliant," Johnson said of the struggle. "Wild is
the way she behaved."

Other TSA employees testified that Whitmore, while on the floor, managed to
get the baggie of cocaine into her mouth and appeared to swallow it. Doctors
later determined that it had lodged in her windpipe, blocking her air
supply.

Whitmore was then pulled back into the chair, where she soon slumped over,
unable to breathe, as officers repeatedly told her to spit out the baggie.

Testimony differed about whether officers waited for paramedics before
removing her handcuffs. What was clear, though, was that medics were unable
to clear the blockage.

Passengers continued to be screened through the checkpoint as Whitmore died
on the airport floor.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002042706_inquest22m.html


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end
Whitey B Pistoff
2004-09-23 03:06:37 UTC
Permalink
On Wed, 22 Sep 2004 21:39:40 -0700, "S. L'Gree"
Post by S. L'Gree
""She was completely noncompliant. Wild is the way she behaved." You just
can't make shit like this up: "Passengers continued to be screened through
the checkpoint as Whitmore died on the airport floor." Yeah, they figured
it was just another ghetto sow doing what came natural.
Bank VP? That was a diversity hiring if there ever was one. Just
goes to show, you can give an ape a job, but you can't make the ape
behave.

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