In 2015, a woman named Charneisha Corley was pulled over while running an errand, and alleges that she was then subjected to a public cavity search of her vagina after Harris County officers claimed they smelled marijuana in her car. Disturbing dashcam footage of the altercation was released Monday on the website of Corley’s attorney, Sam R. Cammack.
The cops in the search were indicted, but the charges were dropped in early August, ABC 13 reports, which is what prompted the video’s release on Cammack’s website. Corley is now looking for justice in a civil suit. The Huffington Post reports that the video shows an 11-minute ordeal in which Corley is violently asaulted in a parking lot:
An officer “body slammed Miss Corley, stuck her head underneath the vehicle and completely pulled her pants off, leaving her naked and exposed in that Texaco parking lot,” Cammack said. “They then took Miss Corley and placed both ankles behind her ears spread eagle position and started to search for something in Miss Corley’s cavity in her vaginal area.”
“That was extreme, to pull my clothes down, in front of people,” Corley can be heard saying on the video after the search. “People were watching. You didn’t see people walking around?”
Fox 26 reports that the two officers involved are still working for the police department on administrative duty. According to Chron, a third female deputy was involved, but not indicted on any charges. The day the charges on the other two officers were dismissed was also the date of their trial; moments later the case was re-presented to a grand jury with new evidence that was kept secret by the DA’s office. Cammack objects to the assertion that there is any new evidence that would justify dismissing Corley’s case, and highlighted that the dashcam footage basically recorded the officers outlining their assault plans:
“One of the officers on the tape, he was talking to a passenger who was already in custody in the officer’s car and you could hear him telling that individual ‘Oh we are going to find something, even if we have to put our hands on her’,” said Cammack.
In an interview with The Huffington Post, Corley says unequivocally that the officers “sexually assaulted, raped” and “molested” her:
Corley said she received “bruises, cuts and scrapes” from deputies forcing her to the ground. The emotional trauma, she said, was worse.
“I’m traumatized,” she said. “It was humiliating. I feel like the law is supposed to protect you and not do this. I just don’t feel safe anymore. My self-esteem has literally dropped and I can’t even step out and be seen because I feel so embarrassed.”
Corley’s civil suit against the county is pending.