It was just obvious to 'em.
Posted on 11/05/2013 5:28:49 AM PST by ican'tbelieveit
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.
Wow, did you read this???
It was just obvious to 'em.
63 years old. How sad is this story?
I think throughout our history there was always a distrust for police officers. There was never a time where corruption didn’t effect a police force. The negative things we see here about police from some Freepers are with merit. I agree that bad cops need to be prosecuted. If this cop did something wrong like it seems he did then he should be prosecuted. Look back at my original post and you will see it had nothing to do with the topic but the comment that “Another Cop Gets Home Safely”. I don’t know how you feel but that is to me a general statement that cops should not get home safely. I’m glad your dad wasn’t a cop. Because if he was, there are a lot of people here that wouldn’t want him to get home safely. Look at my original post and see what I wrote. Look at some of the mean, personal attacks that were made against me. I was called everything from a drunk to a loon and these people acted like an angry mob. I hardly call these people conservatives. True conservatives allow free speech. This was a lynch mob. I am still getting anti cop threads from freepers who seem to be attacking me for something I never said. Just go back and look at some of the insane remarks.
I do think lately the cops are far more trigger happy than they have ever been. I moved to a small community on the coast to find nice police officers, like the ones from my childhood, in part.
OK that’s great. Would you show those police officers that you like now the posts on Free Republic that you support against cops in general. I don’t think you would and I think you appreciate a good police force as we all do. I don’t like police corruption or abuse any more than anyone else here. I ask you only one thing. Go back to that original post and look at what was said by some of these freepers and then tell me that their comments against me were warranted. They had nothing to with the topic or article in question but only with my comment about “all police officers should get home safely”. Which I stand by completely. I told someone else here that I understand that a lot of people don’t rust the cops because they were either arrested or had a bad experience involving them. Some believe that the police have too much power and I agree. That power comes from us. We have that control. Advocating violence against police is wrong. Just go back and look at some of those posts against what I said. If you agree with them then come back here and call me a drunk.
That is your error. Nothing I said so indicates.
Your insinuation, in essence, is to give protection to the State by insisting, “if you haven’t done anything wrong, what do you have to hide?”
I made no such insinuation. Your misreading of words that are not ambiguous does not give rise in me of a need to defend them. I have not defended law enforcement in this case. I simply observed that the only explanation that makes sense is that they believed he was carrying, and I was curious why. Had they received an anonymous tip, had they been following the poor guy, or was he simply a random guy who rolled through a stop sign? I would like to know, because the implications for each scenario are different, although all are disturbing. If it is the third scenario, it is most horrific, although all are terrible. I have been through Deming on my trips east on I-8, and it could well have been me pulling out of that Walmart.
You need to read the words that I said and tell me where your nonsensical interpretation derives from. I speak English as a native, and I don't see where you come up with this crap. And, I am quite familiar with the 4th Amendment, as our Criminal Law professor made us memorize it in the first week of class. Its destruction by the NSA and this government is quite disturbing, as is your defensiveness to things unsaid.
Boy, is that a garbled sentence. If you are asking what the penalty should be for cops who think a guy is carrying, and so do an anal exam, followed by a colonoscopy, I think the penalty should be serious jail time. They are dangerous, the kind of dipwads that shoot dogs on a whim and people if they have an excuse.
Remember in "A Fish Called Wanda" when Kevin Kline eats a bunch of goldfish until the Monty Python guy tells him where the key is hidden. KKKKKen finally tells him that it's in the treasure chest, but when they look inside, it's not there. Kline is pissed, but then he says "still, you really did think it was there." KKKKKen is like the cops, I think they really did think it was there. I am just curious why they thought that, what their thought process was. Not to excuse them, but to figure them out.
Even if their belief was genuine, they violated the rights of this guy from the get-go. No one, certainly not me, ever said otherwise. Clenching one's buttocks during a traffic stop does not create probable cause for anything whatsoever, other than issuance of the ticket and a "Have a nice day".
read the link I posted at 143.
If police are certain enough, they should have the option to probe a suspect’s butt immediately and on the spot. They're trained professionals and I trust their judgment in sniffing out dopers.
Additionally before a colonoscopy you need to be cleaned out and not take anything that might cause you to bleed. You need to carefully examine a medical history before a surgical procedure. What those quacks did to him is malpractice and I see the attorney has filed for it.
This was nothing less than targeted persecution. I am going to watch this case, apparently the rapists are already hoping for a settlement out of court, and hope the hospital is shut down too.
Varyouga
Welcome to the U.S., formerly a free country.
You have not been here long enough to have experienced freedom lost.
No knock warrants are a CLEAR violation of the spirit, intent and letter of the 4th Amendment. The argument for them is always that the doper might flush the drugs or whatever.
I would desire guilty men to go free before I can in any way condone the practice of “no knock” warrants. No question about that.
The Anglo Saxon tradition of Blackstone practices that a mans house is his castle. The fourth amendment states:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
However the 4th does not fully express the sanctity of a mans home, it sort of reflects the sentiments of the time it was written. Underlying assumptions say beware the government official that tries to break into a mans home without consent and without the PRESENTATION of a warrant.
Your trust in cops is silly. Cops are just people, some are trained well, some not so much. On a given day a cop may be a hero, a fool, wise, silly, stupid, cowardly or brave. People are people, and not to be trusted on the best day. The Constitution of this country starts from the assumption that people are bad and government is worst.
Knowing where you came from and your societal expectations I can understand why you said what you said. Consider this: Freedom is simply an expression of risk. The more freedom experienced is directly proportional to the risk experienced. Society, and voters view of freedom and risk define what kind of laws and what kind of country we have.
I would rather be free than safe. Therefore I demand a small underfunded government filled with frustrated officials who can’t seem to get much done. It is by far the safest route I believe.
Many many cops are overly power-hungry and trigger happy.
Perhaps more so than not.
Well I don’t know about that. I just don’t believe that the majority of cops as you say in general get up every morning looking to shoot someone. I don’t know. Do you think the cops where you live think that now? Most of the cops I know are mothers, fathers, uncles and family members. Look back at the posts made against what I said. Do you think that I am a drunk? How about answering that that question.
“The dopers can destroy evidence very quickly. That’s the point of no-knock warrants.
If police are certain enough, they should have the option to probe a suspect’s butt immediately and on the spot. They’re trained professionals and I trust their judgment in sniffing out dopers.”
Please tell me this was some sort of exercise in failed sarcasm.
If not, I think you should contribute your expertise in butt-sniffing to the national effort.
You could be a trained professional before your nose dries.
They bring in an alleged rapist all beat up and say he fell, wink, wink, and injured himself.
this well known and eclectic but loved downtown Seattle whittler is shot and killed
And here is the outcome for that one.
here is a man they shot dead for being afraid he would ram their car with his
They shoot almost any dog they see immediately. It's out of control, whether you agree or not. Bullies, cowards, trigger happy. They mostly do get fired and the families get large settlements. But something has to change.
I give up. Good luck to you and best wishes here. I’m sorry I gave it my best chance.
Of course the people who live in that city and permit that kind of police force are and SHOULD be liable. Votes have consequences. Vote for idiot and they will hurt your pocketbook one way or the other.
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