King County Cops Beat Up On 15 Year Old Girl - UPDATE.. Federal investgation opened

[Liberal_in_LA]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5153102

To those of you who missed the original thread, video is at the link below. what bothers me the most is when he picks her up by her hair and hauls her away with her weight TOTALLY on her hair. Damn!


King County Sheriff Deputy Now Under Federal Investigation


http://seattlest.com/2009/03/04/king_county_sheriff_deputy_now_unde.php
The horrifying security video footage--of a fifteen-year-old girl beaten, while in custody, by King County Sheriff Deputy Paul Schene--that was released on Friday, thank god, has raised more than just local hackles: Schene is now under a civil rights federal investigation for his unbelievably irresponsible actions in that holding cell. Aside from the ongoing internal Sheriff's Office investigative findings and whatever disciplinary action will (we hope) weigh heavily on Schene's head as a consequence, the man now faces a $250,000 fine and a possible five years in prison if he's found guilty on this federal civil rights charge.

If you've somehow been able to avoid watching the footage, filmed on November 29, 2008, until now, you can (and should) view it above. You'll be able to see the girl kicking her shoe off and flinging it in Schene's direction; he's claiming that his actions were legally justified because she assaulted him. There may be more to the story, as Schene's lawyer Anne Bremner claims, but if the bullshit we've heard so far from Schene flies in court, our faith in the system will take another plunge towards the non-existent.

It really only takes one instance of abuse to call for reform, but after reading the hefty list of recent "excessive violence" charges against the King County Sheriff's Office that Paul Shukovsky pulled together at the P-I, we're joining the clamor of voices asking for a deep clean of officer ethics and training protocol, as well as some sort of citizen-run police accountability board given real clout.

[xenussister]

1. As a former sullen teenage girl who "borrowed" her parent's car...

...that could have been me, but luckily I never got arrested, let alone beat up by cops for being a snitty bitch.

When told to take her shoes off she had her arms folded and just kicked the shoe off. In no way did she "assault" him but even if the shoe did hit his leg (don't know if it did) it couldn't have been with too much force. His reactions are WAY over the top and I hope he goes down. His partner should be disciplined too.

[Enthusiast]

2. What do you bet that

the cocksucker gets off.

[datasuspect]

3. where are the authoritarian police defenders?

[glitch]

4. Excellent.

And let this be a warning to any other authoritarian assholes who burrow into community service.

[DKRC]

5. It will bear watching

to see if the Feds do more than investigate only to sweep it under the rug.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/402103_schene04.html

Recent investigations against the Sherriff's Office include:

# Civil rights and perjury allegations against Deputy Brian Bonnar. In late 2008, a federal jury acquitted Bonnar of civil rights violations and four counts of perjury after a woman he arrested and several fellow officers accused him of using excessive force during a 2005 arrest. His indictment represented the first time in well over a decade that a federal grand jury had brought charges against an officer for such "color of law" violations.

# Allegations of civil rights violations against Denny Gulla: In 2004, Gulla, a 23-year veteran and the subject of a number of misconduct accusations, drew a federal inquiry when he pulled over the husband of his lover on a bogus traffic stop and threatened to kill him. Despite a recommendation from an FBI supervisor that the case go forward, the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division declined to prosecute, saying Gulla already had been punished administratively by superiors.

# Dan Ring: The former intelligence detective, who cut a deal with the King County sheriff and prosecutors that allowed him to escape state prosecution for a felony charge and three misdemeanors, drew an investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI after the P-I exposed details about his case. Federal authorities said they were examining whether federal criminal charges should have been filed against Ring; as of Tuesday, none had been.

# Civil rights violations accusations against Joseph Abreu III, Bruce Matthews and Garrett Jorgensen: In February 2002, Sherry Reynolds, a software consultant and former volunteer firefighter, filed a formal complaint against three officers, whom she witnessed violently handle a homeless man outside a grocery store. After she filed the complaint, Reynolds was charged with obstruction of justice. The FBI opened a preliminary investigation into the deputies. Local agents felt they had a strong case, but the Department of Justice declined to prosecute.

*emphasis added is mine