King County (Washington) Sherriff Beating 15 Year Girl Old on Video!

Corporate media, repost from Seattle IndyMedia:
http://seattle.indymedia.org/en/2009/02/271783.shtml

VIDEO AT: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/401779_schene28.html

The King County Sheriff's Office released video Friday from a holding cell where a deputy is accused of pummeling a 15-year-old girl who kicked her shoe at him.

The video was disclosed one day after Deputy Paul Schene, 31, pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor assault in King County District Court.

Schene, an eight-year veteran, remains on paid administrative leave while the case is pending. He works out of Precinct 4, which covers SeaTac, Burien, and high crime areas in White Center and Skyway. He is the third sheriff's deputy since 2006 to face charges on allegations of excessive force. All three are from the same precinct.

"We take this very seriously and we're very concerned about this," sheriff's Sgt. Jim Laing said Friday, referring to Schene's case. An internal investigation would begin after the criminal case is finished.

The girl was arrested on Nov. 29 after she was caught in her parents' car, which had been reported stolen from her parent's home in Tukwila. Deputy Travis Brunner spotted the car driving without headlights about 3:45 a.m. on 32nd Avenue South in SeaTac and pulled it over.

She and another 15-year-old girl were arrested and taken to SeaTac City Hall to be fingerprinted before being transported to the youth detention center.

The Seattle P-I requested a copy of the video and all reports from the incident under the state's open records law. A judge on Thursday denied a request from Schene's attorney to bar the video from public disclosure.

"We had argued strenuously that the videotape released to the media this morning not be released because it does not tell the whole story of the incident," attorney Anne Bremner said in a statement.

"As we argued to the judge, it will inflame public opinion and will severely impact the deputy's right to a fair trial. We will defend this misdemeanor case in court. No story can be sliced so thin that it does not have two sides. We hope that judgment will be reserved until all the facts of this case are given fair consideration in court."

County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said in a prepared statement that the case goes beyond police misconduct.

"It's about criminal misconduct. And that's why he needs to be prosecuted," he said.

The video shows Schene and Brunner as they escorted the girl into the holding cell. Schene had asked her to remove her basketball shoes and as she slipped out of her left shoe, she appears to kick it at Schene.

Schene then lunged through the door and kicked her in the stomach or upper thigh area, court documents say. He shoved her against the corner of the cell before throwing her to the floor by her hair. He then sat down on top of her and makes "two overhead strikes," although it's unclear from the video where the blows land.

Schene is 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 195 pounds. He and the girl exchanged words as he led her to the holding cell, court documents say.

The video came to light in December after a detective investigating the auto theft case viewed it. The detective forwarded it to a supervisor and it was assigned to the internal investigations unit. Prosecutors reviewed it before filing charges.

The girl said that she couldn't breathe after the incident, prompting the deputies to call paramedics. The P-I is not naming her because she is a minor.

Paramedics decided that she didn't require hospitalization. Felony charges require proof of serious injury.

"If the matter were to go to trial, he could face additional charges," said Ian Goodhew, deputy chief of staff in the prosecutor's office.

In his own report from the incident, Schene wrote that the shoe hit him in the right shin, "causing injury and pain." He wrote that he "placed" her into handcuffs and that she needed medical attention for a "panic attack."

He wrote that he required treatment at Auburn General Hospital for a "blood filled pocket" on his shin, according to his report. The video, however, appears to show his shin strike a metal toilet in the cell as he pushes the girl against the wall.

The Sheriff's Office policy manual says deputies should use physical or deadly force only when "necessary to effect an arrest, to defend themselves or others from violence, or to otherwise accomplish police duties according to law."

Schene could face up to a year in jail if convicted.

The girl told investigators that she didn't intend for the shoe to hit him, court documents say.

Deputy Brunner, however, wrote that the girl became "real lippy" and called the deputies "fat pigs" after she was arrested for investigation of "auto theft."