Jun 8, 2022 4 min read

The state Attorney General’s office will not file charges against anyone involved in the Nov. 24 altercation between Clerk of Courts Brenda Davis and several sheriff’s deputies inside the Washington County Courthouse.

Peter Marcoline III, who serves as solicitor for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, said he received an email Monday from the AG that it has closed the investigation into the matter and will not pursue charges.

“When the investigation started, we fully cooperated,” Marcoline said Tuesday. “Any deputies they wanted to interview we made available.”

The incident between Davis and the sheriff’s deputies occurred after President Judge John DiSalle ordered the transfer of juvenile court files from her office to the Juvenile Probation Office. Davis allegedly tried to block the deputies from moving the files and later resisted their efforts to bring her before DiSalle for a contempt hearing.

In courthouse surveillance video made public in February at the request of the Observer-Reporter, Davis can be seen in the hallway surrounded by five deputies while Prothonotary Laura Hough and Deputy Prothonotary Tina Whited stood nearby. As sheriff’s Capt. Robert Vaughan grabbed the left arm of Davis, she can be seen in the video falling to the ground, where she remained for several minutes while paramedics tended to her after she complained of heart palpitations and back pain.

Hough also accused Vaughan, who is is the husband of county Commission Chairwoman Diana Irey Vaughan, of swatting her cellphone as she recorded the situation. The video shows Hough’s phone flashlight being shined in Vaughan’s face before he swiped the device away and told her to stand back.

Marcoline said investigators interviewed all the deputies involved in mid-January and reviewed the courthouse surveillance video, along with cellphone videos with audio that were posted on social media following the incident.

“The most powerful thing was the social media videos and the statements of what was being said. The deputies asking (Davis) if she needed medical attention, there are EMTs on the way,” Marcoline said. “They did everything, in our opinion, by the book to first off ensure compliance with the (court) order and then when she was complaining of pain, they went to get her medical help.”

Both Davis and Hough made previous statements accusing the deputies of assaulting them during the incident. Neither returned messages seeking comment on the decision not to file charges or whether investigators interviewed them.

Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh previously said that he referred the “whole situation” to the attorney general to review a few days after the incident. A spokeswoman for the attorney general confirmed Tuesday that the investigation is closed.

“We supplied all the evidence they needed to determine there was insufficient evidence to charge the deputies,” Marcoline said, adding he did not know whether Hough or Davis were also under investigation for their roles in the incident. “My impression is they were reviewing everything, the entire situation.”

While the Nov. 24 situation is now closed, Davis is still awaiting a possible contempt hearing before DiSalle for trying to block the transfer of the juvenile files. The hearing has been rescheduled multiple times, and the case is currently being reviewed by the state Supreme Court after Davis appealed DiSalle’s multiple orders removing some duties from her office.

Davis also remains under investigation by the attorney general for allegedly manipulating the electronic timecards of several of her office’s employees so they were paid overtime when they were not working or in the office. A search warrant filed April 5 by Special Agent John DiLucente revealed that Davis has been under investigation for several months after county officials found edited timestamps for her employees dating back to May 2021. Neither Davis nor any of her employees named in the search warrant’s affidavit have been charged.