Caught On Tape: Cop Attacks Teen In Cell

(AP)  Surveillance video released in an assault case against a King County sheriff's deputy shows a deputy kicking a 15-year-old girl, slamming her to the floor of a jail cell, striking her and pulling her hair.

The footage shows the attack beginning after the girl enters the cell and kicks off one of her shoes toward the deputy.

The video released Friday is part of an assault case in which Deputy Paul Schene, 31, is accused of using excessive force on the girl, who was being held in a cell at the suburban SeaTac City Hall. Schene, who is charged with fourth-degree assault, pleaded not guilty on Thursday in Superior Court.

The incident last November began after the girl was brought in for an auto theft investigation, according to court documents.

"We believe this case is beyond just police misconduct, it's criminal misconduct," King County Prosecutor Daniel Satterberg said. "This is clearly excessive force."

Satterberg added the case is uncommon because cameras captured the entire incident.

Schene was investigated previously for shooting two people - killing one - in the line of duty in 2002 and 2006. Both times his actions were found to be justified, said Ian Goodhew, prosecutor's deputy chief of staff.

Associated Press calls to Schene's lawyer Anne Bremner were not immediately returned Friday. Bremner, however, released a statement to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in which she said the video does not tell the whole story. Bremner had asked Judge Catherine Shaffer to not release the video to the media.

"As we argued to the judge, it will inflame public opinion and will severely impact the deputy's right to a fair trial," Bremner said.

In the video, a deputy kicks the girl, pushing her back toward the wall. The deputy then strongly backs the girl against the wall, and slams her to the floor by grabbing her hair. A second deputy enters the holding cell, while the first deputy holds the girl face-down to the floor. The first deputy appears to hit the girl with his hands. The girl is then lifted up and led out of the cell while the first deputy holds her hair.

The second officer shown in the video was a trainee at the time and is not under investigation, Goodhew said.

According to court documents, the girl complained of breathing problems after the incident and medics were called to check her. A short time later, she was taken to a youth detention center and booked for investigation of auto theft and third-degree assault, the latter accusation dealing with her conduct toward the deputy. The girl has pleaded not guilty to taking a motor vehicle without permission, Goodhew said Friday, adding she was never formally charged with assault.

Schene told investigators through an e-mail conversation with his lawyer that once he was assaulted by the girl kicking her shoe at him, he entered the cell to "prevent another assault," according to court documents. Schene also said that the girl failed to comply with instructions in the holding area.

Prosecutors said Schene did not explain why he struck the girl after he had her in a holding position on the floor.
By Associated Press Writer Manuel Valdes

[questionstatus]

IMO, police officers are generallly attracted to the job because they enjoy torturing others. Research shows that worldwide most state sponsored torture is carried out by police. Their sociopathic tendencies are well known within the psychological community. Police should be VERY closely monitored. Basically, we've let this happen by supporting "tough on crime" policies and ignoring rights like "innocent until proven guilty." Start supporting the freedom of individuals and holding authorities accountable.

[minedmnt]

Yeah I lived with one of these kind of freaks. Step dad was a real peach, almost killed me a couple of times when I was a kid. I started blocking his throws when I was 16 and that's when he finally backed down. In his mind everyone was a criminal and he was this righteous judge put on earth to judge and convict everyone. Mom finally left him because he was walking around the house talking to himself and going into his bedroom and dry firing his guns. Real psycho that has a large gun collection and now lives out in the woods. The state of Washington has quite a few of these guys in there ranks, step dad was one of them. A cop out of high school and the last job he had was a chaplin for the state of Washington. He enjoyed showing up after someone died natural or not, shootin the breeze with the cops, then telling the family that god loves them. He got some kind of morbid joy out of it. Either the states in this country need to clean house to get rid of these kind of people or the people in this country should be allowed to shoot these freaks on site. These kind of cops are abusive, power hungry freeks that need to be removed from society. And i'm telling you, there are more of these kind of people in authoritative positions then you will ever know. This guy needs to be convicted for this, an example needs to be set in this country that society will no longer tolerate these kind of people. How many times do you think this happens and goes unreported? And comeon people.........a 15 year old girl????? This guy is a piece of work.

[movement28]

Come on society. It doesn't matter if this girl kicked a shoe at this cop leg. Cops don't usually respond like that. This does not justify punching this teen in the face or in the back of the head, being thorwn down and picked up by her hair. What if this was your child. good or bad. We as society must know when things like this isn't right. There are good cops but this cop has some issues that must be dealt with asap

[eloisclayton]

My question is, even if this young girl flicked her shoe at the deputy, the average officer, would just lock the inmates cell and go on about his "business". Why (at that point), was it necessary for another officer to enter the girls cell and proceed with more misconduct?

[cbsreader408]

Anyone who believes this cop was justified is as out of their mind as he is. Jail is for criminals and obviously criminals have no respect for the law. Juveniles I can only imagine have even less. Anyone working in the field knows this and should be prepared to deal with it in a lawful manner. This cop was 100% out of line and is a coward for doing what he did. I hope he ends up in jail himself.

[bullyjo]

BINGO!!!!! Thanks to the police officer, It looks like we have another Millionaire and she's only 15 years old. She's set for life!

[questionstatus]

What can you expect?
In nearly every country, it is primarily the police that happily takes on the "job" of mass torturing. The unaccountability and power of the profession attracts that sort of person in every culture.
We need heavy-handed oversight that leans towards civil rights enforcement. ZERO TOLERANCE for these sociopaths.

[questionstatus]

Where are all of the groups so concerned about women being raped and abused? Not just for this poor teenage girl, but for ALL the prisoners in our country?

Why is it that regardless of the fairness of the law or the sentence--your life has no meaning? You could go in for a DUI and come out with AIDS (a death sentence), not to mention a crushed spirit. Think about it.

We need a new model of openness in our jails and prisons. Stop letting law enforcement use "security" as an excuse to keep human beings sequestered away to suffer in silence. Bring in the cameras and more community oversight in these facilities now!

And, make the "Code of Silence" practiced by so many officers a severe federal offence!
Law enforcement is the only profession left that has practically zero accountability.

btw: This girl is still considered innocent according to our constitution.

[questionstatus]

IMO, THE POLICE EVERYWHERE ARE OUT OF CONTROL. They are power hungry, rude, violent, perverse and corrupt. Yet they ALWAYS get a free pass.

WAKE UP PEOPLE! Stop worrying about political fluff and start lobbying Congress to restore our civil rights and end this police state. END the RAPE FACILITIES (prisons) operated by our perverse judicial officials. THEY ALSO USE THE "SECURITY" EXCUSE TO STRIP PEOPLE OF ALL BASIC HUMAN COMFORT AND DIGNITY. And they laugh about it!

WHEN will we learn that people make mistakes. ANYONE can end up arrested at an officers whim! Usually for dubious and/or victimless crimes. TREAT our prisoners (our daughters, sons, husbands, wives, grandmothers, grandfathers...) with dignity and respect. Our present law enforcement system is simply medieval.

HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE! HOLD THEM TO A HIGHER STANDARD! REPORT THEM! BRING THEM BEFORE CITIZEN REVIEW BOARDS FOR EVERY INFRACTION--THE SAME WAY THE TREAT THE CITIZENRY.

[concernedcitizeninTn]

What absolutely stuns me is that this video saw the light of day. My son, literally an Eagle Scout and choir boy, was mistakenly rousted out of a restaurant in Covington, Ky. He was a bystander with no police record caught up in a clearing out of a restaurant after an altercation involving folks who weren't even with him at the restaurant. The police rolled in there hot and shoved and prodded lots of folks out with their sticks-planning to sort it out later I guess. My son took his friend's hand and said "no, our car is this way". At that time his arm was knocked up off his friend's arm and my son received an uppercut, was knocked to the ground, and beaten. He never resisted. He never threw any punch. He never spoke back to the officers. At least three police cars had their lights on circled around the attack, which means videos running. My son was taken to the hospital and treated, stitched up, broken teeth, footprint on his head, black eyes. In the meantime they were sorting what to charge him with to cover the magnitude of the beating. No blood alcohol was ever taken, so they couldn't trump up a public drunkenness charge but they did charge felony resisting, and assault on an officer.. Needless to say innocence in Covington, Ky. cannot be supported by videos because they magically disappear. We had to fight this to the tune of 10,000.00 dollars. We listened to this officer stick to his story in court, and perjure himself over and over. A private investigator, a high priced law firm, & 14 eyewitness depositions that disputed the officer's testimony exonerated my son. Even so, the prosecutor wanted to take this to the wall and offered us 5 years in jail on a plea bargain. In the face of all of our evidence, the judge "forced" a change to a misdemeanor with two years probation. Thank God for competent, alert, and uncorrupted judges. If is smells rancid it probably is. As for a complaint filed against this officer and a brutality charge, they assigned one of the arresting officers to investigate the case, and he was hostile to us from the first phone call to file a complaint. We were told that my son had to file formal charges in person at this police station. We feared to ever enter that county again and did not pursue the complaint, I am ashamed to say. We did not do the right thing. I just feared so for my son's life. We should have gone, at all risks, and gotten this dishonest, hotheaded officer off the street but we were afraid. I commend the honest officers who do a really difficult job every day. They are all that separate us from chaos. I also pity the poor. If I had been a Mom in the ghetto, my child, though innocent, would still be in jail today. As it is, he is graduating in May from a very prestigious college with a Master's degree, dented, bitter at the system, and with a record which Ky takes 5 years to expunge after the sentence is served. After 7 years he will have no record. Seem fair to you? It could have been worse I realize. He could have been killed.