Wyking: Closer to Home | Second mistrial for King County ex-deputy accused of assaulting teen in cell

Originally published July 1, 2010 at 12:28 PM | Page modified July 1, 2010 at 9:36 PM

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Second mistrial for King County ex-deputy accused of assaulting teen in cell

The second trial of former King County sheriff's deputy Paul Schene ended in a mistrial, but jurors this time were leaning toward acquittal.

By Sara Jean Green and Jennifer Sullivan

Seattle Times staff reporters

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JOHN LOK / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Paul Schene, right, and his attorney, Peter Offenbecher, listen as a mistrial is declared for the second time.

JOHN LOK / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Paul Schene, right, confers with his attorney, Peter Offenbecher, moments after Judge Michael J. Fox declared a mistrial Thursday. The King County Prosecutor's Office will decide within two weeks whether to try Schene a third time.

Deputy assault footage

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Once again, the jury was split 11 to 1 and a mistrial was declared.

But the majority of jurors in the second trial of former King County sheriff's deputy Paul Schene came to a vastly different conclusion on whether Schene was guilty of criminally assaulting a teenage girl in a holding cell — even though both juries saw a widely publicized videotape of the same incident.

Schene's first trial ended in January with jurors split 11-1 in favor of conviction, while jurors in his second trial deadlocked 11-1 Thursday to acquit him, according to the prosecutor and defense attorney involved in the case.

After two trials without the unanimous decision required for a verdict, the King County Prosecutor's Office must decide whether to try Schene a third time.

Prosecutors will make that decision within two weeks after talking to jurors and reviewing the case, said spokesman Dan Donohoe.

He said his office was disappointed in Thursday's outcome.

Senior Deputy Prosecutor Gary Ernsdorff, who prosecuted Schene in both trials, said, "I want to talk more with the jurors" to determine what made "this result so dramatically different than the last time with the same facts and evidence."

In sparse public comments after Thursday's mistrial, some jurors said the prosecution had not proved its case, but they otherwise provided few details on the deliberations.

Schene's attorney, Peter Offenbecher, said of the latest result, "I'm just disappointed we weren't able to persuade that one last juror that Paul Schene is innocent."

Schene, 32, took the witness stand to defend himself during both trials.

Thursday's mistrial was declared by Superior Court Judge Michael J. Fox, who also presided over Schene's first trial.

During closing arguments Tuesday, Ernsdorff asked jurors to find that Schene used unreasonable force when he kicked, grabbed and twice punched Malika Calhoun, then 15, after she flipped an athletic shoe at him when she was told to remove her shoes at the door to the cell.

The incident was captured on videotape by surveillance cameras inside SeaTac City Hall, where Calhoun and a female friend were being booked Nov. 29, 2008 for allegedly stealing her guardian's car.

The case attracted intense interest after the release of the video in February 2009, shortly after Schene was charged with fourth-degree assault, a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a $5,000 fine.

Jurors in the second trial began deliberating Tuesday afternoon at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent.

During his closing arguments Tuesday, Offenbecher said Schene had to make a "split-second decision" when faced with Calhoun kicking her sneaker at him, and his decision was to quickly get the girl under control.

"He did it the way he was trained to do it. It was a textbook example," Offenbecher said of Schene's response. "Ms. Calhoun is a person whose word is not to be trusted."

As jurors left the courthouse Thursday, a male juror, who did not give his name, said of Schene's conduct, "It was a very strong show of force, but the fact she was not injured during the process shows he followed the techniques he was trained to use."

The prosecution didn't prove beyond a reasonable doubt that unreasonable and unnecessary force was used, the juror said.

A female juror, who didn't give her name, said the prosecution "didn't prove if the force was unlawful or lawful."

Schene was fired because of the incident, but he is challenging the action in an arbitration on hold pending the outcome of the criminal case.

Sheriff Sue Rahr will make her case to an arbitrator to uphold Schene's termination, said her spokesman, Sgt. John Urquhart.

"She is pretty adamant that what he did was out of line," Urquhart said of Rahr. "Clearly, we did not feel the use of force was reasonable, nor did the Prosecutor's Office."

Emily Langlie, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Seattle, said federal lawyers have been monitoring Schene's case from the beginning because of "our separate authority under federal law to investigate and prosecute civil-rights offenses."

Federal attorneys "will consult with the King County Prosecutor's Office and evaluate next steps with our colleagues at the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division," Langlie said.

Calhoun sued the county over the incident.

The case was settled last year, with the county paying $125,000 into a trust in her name, according to the King County Prosecutor's Office.

Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com

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Comments (230)

11 jurors voted to acquit. Only one voted to convict. Posted on July 1, 2010 at 1:07 PM by Thinkingtwice. Jump to comment

OK, enough is enough. No more taxpayer money wasted on this. The guy lost his job, the girl (hopefully) has learned her lesson. In the grand... Posted on July 1, 2010 at 12:50 PM by TSeattle. Jump to comment

considering that the article says that the jury was deadlocked 11-1 to acquit that means that Schene almost got off and one juror kept him from... Posted on July 1, 2010 at 1:10 PM by for your amusement. Jump to comment

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