Department of Justice investigating sheriff's deputy in jail cell videotape

The videotape of a King County sheriff's deputy roughing up a 15-year-old girl in a holding cell has caught the attention of the Department of Justice, which "is definitely looking into the matter," according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Harris, who heads the local office's civil-rights division.

Harris said the U.S. Attorney's Office had learned of the incident last month when the Sheriff's Office announces criminal charges had been filed against the deputy. He said the office "just didn't have enough to go on" at that point, but the release Friday of the video from a holding cell changed that.

"It is on our radar now," Harris said. "That was the first time we'd seen in on Friday, and we've had a couple of days to talk about it. We are looking, yes."

Deputy Paul Schene, 31, of Auburn, an eight-year department veteran, has been charged with misdemeanor assault in connection with the Nov. 29 incident. He's accused of kicking Malika Calhoun in the abdomen, punching her in the head and pulling her hair in a sheriff's holding cell after her arrest for car theft.

If the U.S. Attorney's Office determines that he violated the girl's civil rights, Schene could also face federal felony charges. Civil rights criminal charges, however, are rare. The only case ever filed in Western Washington involved another King County sheriff's deputy, Brian Bonnar, and another case in which a deputy is supposed to have assaulted a person in custody.

A jury acquitted Bonnar following a trial last December, despite the testimony of several eyewitness deputies.

"I do wish I had had video in that trial," said Kelly, who prosecuted the Bonnar case.

On the video, Calhoun is seen kicking her tennis shoe off at the deputy as he closes the holding cell door. Schene then charges into the holding cell, throwing Calhoun against a wall. He then knocks her to the floor and, with the help of another deputy, holds her down while he punches her. He then picks her up by the hair and marches her out of the cell. The deputy later says said the teen's tennis shoe injured his shin.

The video was posted online, and has sparked outrage. Calhoun, who is now 16, and her father, appeared on CBS's "The Early Show" on Monday.

She said she screamed at the deputy to stop.

"I was yelling. I was like, 'This isn't — I'm not resisting, I'm not resisting,' and he said, 'Whether you're resisting or not, that was assault,' " Calhoun said. "Then he just kept doing it and kept going and going."

A telephone message left with Schene's attorney, Anne Bremner, was not immediately returned.

Schene was released on his own recognizance after he was charged. He's currently on administrative leave from the Sheriff's Office.

Mike Carter: 206-464-3706 or mcarter@seattletimes.com