Cavity search traffic stop for littering

Man Anally Probed 8 Times After Traffic Stop...
Sent $6,000 bill
http://lasvegas.cbslocal.com/2013/11...top-for-drugs/

DEMING, N.M. (CBS Las Vegas) — A New Mexico man claims he was anally probed several times by police and medical officials following a traffic stop.

The victim, David Eckert, claims in a federal lawsuit that officers from the Deming Police Department pulled him over after he failed to make a complete stop at a stop sign outside a Walmart this past January.

When Eckert got out of his car, officers indicated that they believed he was in possession of drugs – in his anal cavity.

“They say when he stepped out of his car he was standing in a manner that looked as if he was clinching his buttocks,” Shannon Kennedy, Eckert’s attorney, told KOB-TV.

A judge granted a search warrant to perform an anal cavity search on Eckert shortly after he was taken into custody. KOB reports that a doctor refused to perform the anal cavity search at a Deming emergency room, saying it was “unethical.” Eckert was then transported to Gila Regional Medical Center, where his alleged trauma began.

According to the lawsuit and medical records, Eckert’s abdominal area was x-rayed twice, doctors stuck fingers in his anus twice, he had three enemas inserted anally and had a colonoscopy performed. No drugs were ever found during the search.

“This is like something out of a science fiction film,” Kennedy told KOB. “Anal probing by government officials and public employees?”

Eckert did not consent to any of the searches.

Kennedy said her client has been “absolutely terrified” since the January incident.
“I mean it’s absolutely unimaginable that this could happen in America,” Kennedy told KOB.

Deming Police Chief Brandan Gigante told KOB that his department follows the law.

“We follow the law in every aspect and follow procedures and protocols we have in place,” Gigante said.

Eckert is suing the City of Deming, the Deming Police Department, the Gila Regional Medical Center and deputies from the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Department.

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/...in-drug-search

Man Seeks Millions After N.M. Police Force Colonoscopy in Drug
Search

Civil rights attorney says Hispanic officers may have targeted 'white boy' because they 'don't like him living in their community'

Police forced New Mexico scrap metal tradesman David Eckert to undergo two digital anal probes, three enema insertions and ultimately a colonoscopy after officers incorrectly assumed he was concealing drugs, according to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court on his behalf.

No drugs were found by police or doctors at the Gila Regional Medical Center in Silver City, N.M. The exhaustive search began when Eckert allegedly rolled through a stop sign in Deming, N.M., on Jan. 2, 2013.

Albuquerque civil rights attorney Shannon Kennedy is representing Eckert and says she is seeking "in excess of $1 million in punitive damages alone" from the law enforcement and medical personnel responsible and their employers.

"We see this as a multimillion-dollar case," Kennedy said. "This is essentially medical anal rape, numerous times over a 12-hour period. I can't imagine anything more horrifying than what happened to our client. It's just sadistic."

The apparent justification for the search, Kennedy said, was that police believed Eckert's buttocks were clenched during the traffic stop.

But, she said, it's also possible the officers just didn't like how her client looks.

"Maybe the officers who did this don't like him living in their community," said Kennedy. "He's a white boy, a scraggly white boy, and all these officers are Hispanic. It's a New Mexico thing."

Kennedy said her client, 63-years-old when he was detained, looks somewhat like rocker Tom Petty and says he denies standing with his buttocks clenched.


"I've never read anything like that before for probable cause," Kennedy said.

In the search warrant affidavit that sought permission for an anal cavity probe, one police officer said he asked Eckert for permission to physically search him after the minor traffic stop. When Eckert refused, the document says, a police K-9 dog alerted them to the side of his car. Kennedy alleges the dog is not certified to search for drugs and may actually be a pet.

A judge granted the search warrant for the anal cavity probe, but not necessarily a colonoscopy.

Officers then transported Eckert to the Gila Regional Medical Center after an emergency room doctor at a Deming, N.M., hospital told them "this is unethical," Kennedy said. The doctor who refused to comply with police is willing to testify if the lawsuit goes to trial, according to Kennedy.


After arriving at the Gila facility, doctors examined Eckert's anal cavity twice with their fingers, put him through an x-ray scan and then inserted three rounds of enemas into his anus. After each enema, doctors examined the stool sample produced. Eckert was then given a second x-ray scan and forced to undergo a colonoscopy with anesthesia.

It's unclear why the colonoscopy was necessary after enemas and x-rays did not reveal hidden drugs. Eckert was sent a $6,000 bill for the medical procedures he involuntarily underwent, his lawyer says.

Kennedy says her client lives in fear of retaliation yet wants to share his story "to protect others, to let them know this happened."

But, she says, he also wants to guard his privacy and doesn't want to be known as "the anally probed guy."

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Eckert is suing three Deming, N.M., police officers, three Hidalgo County police officers, the Gila Regional Medical Center and Deputy District Attorney Daniel Dougherty, who helped secure the warrant. Kennedy filed a malpractice complaint with the state medical review commission Oct. 18 against the two doctors who performed the colonoscopy.

4 On Your Side investigates traffic stop nightmare
http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S....shtml?cat=500

This 4 On Your Side investigation looks into the actions of police officers and doctors in Southern New Mexico.

A review of medical records, police reports and a federal lawsuit show deputies with the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office, police officers with the City of Deming and medical professionals at the Gila Regional Medical Center made some questionable decisions.

The incident began January 2, 2013 after David Eckert finished shopping at the Wal-Mart in Deming. According to a federal lawsuit, Eckert didn't make a complete stop at a stop sign coming out of the parking lot and was immediately stopped by law enforcement.

Eckert's attorney, Shannon Kennedy, said in an interview with KOB that after law enforcement asked him to step out of the vehicle, he appeared to be clenching his buttocks. Law enforcement thought that was probable cause to suspect that Eckert was hiding narcotics in his anal cavity. While officers detained Eckert, they secured a search warrant from a judge that allowed for an anal cavity search.

The lawsuit claims that Deming Police tried taking Eckert to an emergency room in Deming, but a doctor there refused to perform the anal cavity search citing it was "unethical."

But physicians at the Gila Regional Medical Center in Silver City agreed to perform the procedure and a few hours later, Eckert was admitted.

What Happened

While there, Eckert was subjected to repeated and humiliating forced medical procedures. A review of Eckert's medical records, which he released to KOB, and details in the lawsuit show the following happened:

1. Eckert's abdominal area was x-rayed; no narcotics were found.

2. Doctors then performed an exam of Eckert's anus with their fingers; no narcotics were found.

3. Doctors performed a second exam of Eckert's anus with their fingers; no narcotics were found.

4. Doctors penetrated Eckert's anus to insert an enema. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.

5. Doctors penetrated Eckert's anus to insert an enema a second time. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.

6. Doctors penetrated Eckert's anus to insert an enema a third time. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.

7. Doctors then x-rayed Eckert again; no narcotics were found.

8. Doctors prepared Eckert for surgery, sedated him, and then performed a colonoscopy where a scope with a camera was inserted into Eckert's anus, rectum, colon, and large intestines. No narcotics were found.

Throughout this ordeal, Eckert protested and never gave doctors at the Gila Regional Medical Center consent to perform any of these medical procedures.

"If the officers in Hidalgo County and the City of Deming are seeking warrants for anal cavity searches based on how they're standing and the warrant allows doctors at the Gila Hospital of Horrors to go in and do enemas and colonoscopies without consent, then anyone can be seized and that's why the public needs to know about this," Kennedy said.

Search Warrant Concerns

There are major concerns about the way the search warrant was carried out. Kennedy argues that the search warrant was overly broad and lacked probable cause. But beyond that, the warrant was only valid in Luna County, where Deming is located. The Gila Regional Medical Center is in Grant County. That means all of the medical procedures were performed illegally and the doctors who performed the procedures did so with no legal basis and no consent from the patient.

In addition, even if the search warrant was executed in the correct New Mexico county, the warrant expired at 10 p.m. Medical records show the prepping for the colonoscopy started at 1 a.m. the following day, three hours after the warrant expired.

"This is like something out of a science fiction film, anal probing by government officials and public employees," Kennedy said.

No Comment

KOB reached out to the attorneys representing the defendants in the lawsuit and all declined to comment on the situation. The attorneys said it's their personal policy not comment on pending litigation.

4 On Your Side Investigative Reporter Chris Ramirez cornered Deming Police Chief Brandon Gigante.

"As the police chief what reassurances could you give people when they come through your town that they won't be violated or abused by your police officers?" Ramirez asked Chief Gigante.

"We follow the law in every aspect and we follow policies and protocols that we have in place," Chief Gigante replied.

"Do you think those officers in this particular case did that?" Ramirez asked.

Gigante didn't answer, instead he referred Ramirez to his attorney.

The Lawsuit

David Eckert is suing The City of Deming and Deming Police Officers Bobby Orosco, Robert Chavez and Officer Hernandez.

Eckert is also suing Hidalgo County Hidalgo County Deputies David Arredondo, Robert Rodriguez and Patrick Green.

Eckert is also suing Deputy District Attorney Daniel Dougherty and the Gila Regional Medical Center including Robert Wilcox, M.D and Okay Odocha, M.D.

Hospital rape team

Surgical Associates-Silver: Odocha Okay H MD

Address: 2600 N Silver St, Silver City, NM 88061
Phone575) 388-3175



Dr. Robert M. Wilcox, MD
1313 E 32nd St Silver City, NM 88061
(575) 538-4050
grmc.org
Emergency Medicine

Officers involved

__________________________

Georgia Police Strip Search Drivers During Minor Traffic Stops.

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local...olice-s/nc7kd/

FOREST PARK, Ga. —

Officers are supposed to pull drivers over for traffic violations, but a Channel 2 Action News investigation found traffic stops leading to a violation of another kind.

Driver after driver told investigative reporter Jodie Fleischer officers searched inside their pants while they were stopped for minor traffic violations. In several cases, the invasive searches targeted passengers who were riding in the car.

"He was like, 'Just unbuckle all your clothes,' and put his hands down inside my pants," said Terry Phillips.

Forest Park police had pulled over Phillips' wife for a suspended registration.

Phillips consented to a search. However on the officer's dashboard camera recording Phillips can clearly be heard protesting when he realized the extent of the officer's intentions.

"That's illegal, man, you can't do that. You can't do that," said Phillips to the officer. The officer continued.

Phillips filed a complaint with the Forest Park Police Department and hired an attorney.

"That's a general strip-search, which you're not allowed to do," said Phillips' attorney, Mark Bullman. "Unless it's an emergency or it's done in a controlled environment by professional people were other people aren't there to look in a public setting."

According to the U.S. Supreme Court, officers may pat down or frisk an individual only to determine whether the person is armed, if the officers feel threatened.

"If you pat the outside of someone's pants you can clearly identify whether or not somebody has a firearm or something of that nature," Bullman said. "You can't be moving people's clothing and opening them, particularly in situations where there's not been a custodial arrest."

Bullman told Fleischer these kinds of searches should happen in a jail or hospital, not in public, and should ideally be done by an officer of the same sex.

Channel 2 obtained internal Forest Park police records showing that a captain noted a unit-wide problem with violating search policies six months prior to the Phillips traffic stop. The Forest Park police chief says he has now “ramped up training in this area.”

"It's just embarrassing. I've got everybody seeing me exposed," said Alphonzo Eleby of his similar encounter with DeKalb Police.

Eleby had stopped at a gas station, parked his car at the pump, and run into the store for a money order. As he exited, he stopped to say hello to an acquaintance parked outside.

"There was just basically no reason for the search, but I still allowed them to search me because I had nothing to hide," Eleby told Fleischer.

He said an officer walked him through the parking lot with his belt open and underwear exposed. He says the officer then reached into the front of his pants with his bare hand.

"He went inside my underwear and searched my genital area," Eleby said, "It was just embarrassing."

That officer found nothing on Eleby, but charged him with possession of marijuana anyway; his report alleges he saw Eleby throw something to the ground.

But a convenience store video shows Eleby's hands did not move, and the officer appears to toss something to the ground. The DeKalb County Solicitor dropped the charge against Eleby and forwarded the case to the district attorney to investigate the officer.

The DeKalb police chief placed him on restricted duty.

Cobb County police are investigating an officer's actions after truck driver Camishi Jones filed a complaint regarding her traffic stop.

"He was all touching my breast, up in my vagina area," Jones said. "He actually stuck his hand up in between my buttocks."

Jones was pulled over on Interstate 75 for driving her truck in the left lane. She said the male officer did not reach inside her clothing, but said the search made her feel violated.

"I felt that I was being molested with his hands," Jones said.

The officer wrote in his report that he “conducted a pat-down checking for weapons.”

Fleischer's research found at least half a dozen reports of similar actions by officers in various metro area departments. The drivers and passengers were reluctant to speak publicly because they were embarrassed.

"The law itself as to whether or not you can strip someone in public for the purposes of searching them is very clear: it should never happen," said attorney Brian Spears.

Spears represents Ben Kassars, a passenger whose roommate was pulled over by a drug task force in Baldwin County.

"I was humiliated... They took my belt off, unzipped my pants," Kassars said.

Nearly 300 cars passed by as officers searched them for drugs. Kassars consented to the search after being placed in handcuffs and threatened with jail.

"They looked in my pants on the front, the side, the back. It was terrible," Kassars said. "I felt like a girl. I felt defenseless. I felt like there was nothing I could do about it."

Nothing was found in the search, and the men were allowed to leave with a ticket for following too closely, which a court later dismissed.

"I've seen drugs concealed on people everywhere so we are going to try and pat them down first, for weapons, and then, if permission granted, we're going to search further," said Wesley Nunn, the commander of the drug task force who searched Kassars.

Nunn said his cases are different than a regular traffic stop. In this one, an informant had offered a tip that Kassars and his roommate were carrying drugs. He believes that gave him probable cause, plus Kassars agreed to allow it.

"I've been turned down many times on searches. You can't search, get a search warrant," said Nunn.

He added that if Kassars hadn't consented, he probably would have taken him into custody to search him at the jail.

"It might be embarrassing to them, embarrassing to me; the bottom end is, I'm looking to where they might conceal drugs," Nunn said.

None of the searches in this story yielded any drugs. All of these drivers and passengers have filed complaints with police or are seeking legal action.

"If I go somewhere and I grab a person and grope or I search them in their private areas, I'm going to jail," Eleby said, "What makes him above the law?"

"If I go somewhere and I grab a person and grope or I search them in their private areas, I'm going to jail," Eleby said, "What makes him above the law?"

That, I believe, is the problem in a nutshell. MANY cops truly believe that they are above the law. And they also believe it comes as a perk of the job. It's a "professional courtesy" as they put it.

I could never figure out why cops who disrespect the people they are hired to "serve and protect" are astonished that they have become so disrespected themselves. They have clearly forced an "us versus" them attitude to be present in how they look upon the "civilians" and "peons". Well, that's a two way street, fellas. You reap what you sow.