Teen allegedly assaulted by former deputy testifies of criminal past

The teenage girl allegedly assaulted by a former King County sheriff's deputy in a SeaTac holding cell acknowledged Thursday that she has a history of providing false names to police officers and lying to a judge.

Malika Calhoun, 16, made the admissions while under cross-examination by Peter Offenbecher, the attorney for Paul Schene, the former deputy being tried in King County Superior Court on a misdemeanor assault charge.

Schene, 32, was fired from his deputy job in September over the Nov. 29, 2008, incident, which happened after Calhoun and another teenage girl were arrested for allegedly stealing a car owned by Calhoun's guardian. Schene kicked Calhoun, shoved her into a wall, threw her to the floor and punched her twice after she kicked an athletic shoe toward him when asked to remove her shoes.

The incident was captured on surveillance video.

Offenbecher maintains Schene used accepted tactics to control Calhoun, then 15, because he was trying to prevent her from kicking her other shoe at him after the first one missed his groin and struck his leg.

Calhoun has repeatedly told jurors she didn't intend to hit Schene with the shoe and flipped it off as a matter of habit.

Offenbecher sought Thursday to undermine her credibility by eliciting admissions from her about her criminal history.

Calhoun said she provided a false name to a police officer when she was arrested for theft in 2007 at a store in Covington and again when cited for another theft at a Federal Way store in January 2008.

She also acknowledged that after being arrested last year for trespassing at Westfield Southcenter mall, she lied to a police officer when she denied the allegation.

Calhoun said she also lied to a judge last year to get a felony crime reduced. To avoid prejudicing the jury, no details were provided to the jury about that case, which was reduced from felony harassment to misdemeanor disorderly conduct.

Under questioning by Deputy Prosecutor Gary Ernsdorff, Calhoun said she told the judge she had committed the crime when she actually hadn't "because I just wanted to get out of there."

Offenbecher also elicited from Calhoun that she had made a March national television appearance on CBS' "The Early Show," in which she explained that she kicked the shoe at Schene with her arms folded because she was upset at the way he was talking to her. She also said she was talking back to him. In other testimony Thursday, the girl who was arrested with Calhoun for allegedly stealing the car told jurors Calhoun's reputation with other people is that "she is a liar."

The girl, 16, also portrayed Schene as taunting her and Calhoun at the SeaTac City Hall facility before the incident in the holding cell.

At the end of the day, Judge Michael J. Fox recessed the trial until Tuesday, when testimony will resume. Jurors are expected to begin deliberations next week.

Steve Miletich: 206-464-3302 or smiletich@seattletimes.com