Cops Give Innocent Man Multiple Rectal Exams, Without Consent, To Find Drugs That Weren't There

This is abuse.

ey asked him to step out of the car and then searched his vehicle (without his consent). Another officer brought in a drug dog which reacted (a relatively worthless indication of anything -- drug dogs can easily be "alerted" by their controlling officers) to the driver's seat. (Eckert's lawyer calls into question this dog's training, presenting documents that claim to show it hadn't received the proper field training and recertification. See exhibits listed under docket item 27.) Then the officer "observed" that Eckert was standing "erect with his legs together" and his "buttocks clenched." This was all the justification the Deming police needed to subject Eckert to the following horrific chain of events at a hospital in neighboring Silver City . 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.

At no time did Eckert give his consent to these searches.

Read the whole thing. The cops did get a warrant, but that was itself extremely shaky. I can't quote any more. Just read it.

A warrant to insert things into a man's anus, multiple times, based on a drug dog's alert.

All this. All this, over suspected narcotics, and an over-eager, under-trained dog.

In addition, an X-ray -- already invasive-- showed no drugs hidden in his body.

So why did they continue? What the hell kind of drugs are invisible to x-rays?

And what the hell kind of Major Crime did they think they'd find at the end of this Extreme Body Search? It's one thing if you think a murderer has concealed a murder weapon in his ass -- that's serious.

But a mere suspicion of drugs, and you go through all this? Multiple insertions into his anus, multiple forced enemas?

For what? At the end of the day, what the hell are you expecting to find? A few ounces of Invisible To X-Ray Coke?

This seems like torturing a man for the crime of Pissing Off A Cop.

posted by Open Blogger at 06:11 PM

| Access Comments