Harris sheriff spars with DA's office over indicted deputies Two charged for allegedly conducting illegal search

Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman talks to the media outside Knight Transportation after a recently fired employee returned to the business and opened fire before fatally shooting himself, Wednesday, May 4, 2016, in Katy, Texas. (Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT less Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman talks to the media outside Knight Transportation after a recently fired employee returned to the business and opened fire before fatally shooting himself, Wednesday, May 4, ... more Photo: Michael Ciaglo, MBI Photo: Michael Ciaglo, MBI Image 1 of / 23 Caption Close Harris sheriff spars with DA's office over indicted deputies 1 / 23 Back to Gallery

The Harris County Sheriff's Office on Friday blasted prosecutors for charging two deputies with official oppression for allegedly conducting an illegal roadside body cavity search of a woman during a traffic stop.

In an unusually public fight, Sheriff Ron Hickman accused the Harris County District Attorney's Office of indicting the two deputies based on news coverage, not evidence.

"The indictments came as a surprise to the Harris County Sheriff's Office after a lengthy internal affairs investigation cleared the deputies of wrongdoing," according to a news release from the sheriff's office.

The law enforcement agency also criticized a statement from the DA's office. "As stated in a district attorney's office press release, the presentation to the grand jury was not based on a review of evidence, but rather, 'based upon a local news report about the incident.'"

Hickman took the DA's office to task for dismissing charges against 22-year-old Charnesia Corley and instead charging deputies Ronaldine Pierre, 33, and William Strong, 36, on the class A misdemeanor of official oppression.

"Rumor, innuendo and sensationalism do not correlate to the facts surrounding Corley's arrest," according to the release.

Officials with the Harris County District Attorney's Office called the sheriff's response "disappointing on many levels."

"First, the suggestion that the grand jury had not reviewed the evidence is spurious and uninformed," according to a release from the DA's office late Friday. "Although this office cannot disclose the substance of the grand jury's secret proceedings, we can disclose that the grand jury did fully and fairly review all of the available evidence over several sessions."

At odds with the sheriff's assertion that the deputies did nothing wrong, prosecutors said they "found that the search was offensive and shocking" and resulted in charges being dismissed against the woman who was searched.

Corley has filed a federal lawsuit against the county for the incident, which began with a traffic stop about 10:30 p.m. on June 20, 2015.

In her lawsuit, Corley and her attorney Sam Cammack say deputies stopped her after she allegedly rolled through a stop sign and did not use a turn signal. She was directed to stop in the parking lot of a nearby gas station on Ella Boulevard.

The deputies searched her car after saying they could smell marijuana and but did not find anything, according to the lawsuit. A female officer told Corley, who was handcuffed, to lower her pants. The deputy then used a flashlight to illuminate her exposed genital area to conduct a "visual strip search," according to the plaintiff's complaint.

Next, the deputies decided to do a manual body cavity search while still in the parking lot, according to her lawsuit.

When Corley protested, the deputies forcibly threw her to the ground, pinned her down with her legs spread apart, threatened to break her legs, and without consent penetrated her vagina in a purported search for marijuana, the complaint states.

The deputies said they found a small amount of marijuana. They charged her with drug possession and resisting arrest for allegedly pushing a deputy with her hip and kicking a deputy with her foot. The incident was caught on video, but without sound because the officers turned off their microphones.

The two officers have been put on civilian duty and continue to work for the sheriff's office pending the outcome of their cases.

The charges against Corley were dropped after prosecutors reviewed her case.

She and her attorney have said there was no marijuana, which the sheriff's office disputed on Friday. With their press release, they attached a lab report that a partially burnt cigar with less than .02 ounces of marijuana was found.

Corley is accusing the sheriff's office of violating her Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure, because the deputies did not have a warrant and did not take her to a police station to perform the search. She is seeking unspecified damages in her suit against Harris County.