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.
| Action | User | Date/Time |
|---|---|---|
| Append keyword "donutwatch" |
steelyourfaith |
11/05/2013 5:36:53 AM PST |
| Append keyword "stupidcoptricks" |
steelyourfaith |
11/05/2013 5:36:53 AM PST |
| Append keyword "warriorcops" |
steelyourfaith |
11/05/2013 5:36:53 AM PST |
| Append keyword "moronwithbadge" |
steelyourfaith |
11/05/2013 5:36:53 AM PST |
| Append keyword "police" |
ican'tbelieveit |
11/05/2013 5:28:50 AM PST |
| Append keyword "policeabuse" |
ican'tbelieveit |
11/05/2013 5:28:50 AM PST |
You can knock it off with the keyword abuse...
The jack-booted thuggery is getting worse and worse.
I can’t believe I just read that this happened. In the United States of America.
Words fail me.
OBVIOUSLY, the guy had a bug up his butt.
Even worse, obamacare won’t cover the procedures.
This guy is complaining?
He got a free colonoscopy and didn’t even have to come up with a co-pay.
The first time I ever saw the inside of a jail was in Deming. No, I was not in for a crime but rather with my dad. I was about 10 or 11 and my dad took me there to visit the men who worked there. He graduated from Deming High School in 1932 and we were on vacation visiting my grandparents. I think his goal was two-fold. One to see old friends but also to let me see what jail was like. I recall the guard saying, “Sorry but I can’t take him upstairs to where the women are.” It must have worked as I’ve been able to stay on the right side of the law all my life.
WTFIIWNM?
The bad news: some poor bast*rd wandered into the wrong side of the Twilight Zone.
The good news: he’ll soon own Lordsburg lock, stock, and barrel.
I’m reminded of the scene towards the very end of the movie Independence Day.
Sue the shit out if them. Literally.
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This is a criminal offense. The officers involved need to be in jail, and the victim needs to be paid a few hundred million.
***The cops thought he was clenching his buttocks when he got out of a car????***
If I get a letter from the IRS my butt automatically tightens.
Same for a traffic stop for no reason.
Same when I saw what Obamacare would cost me!
This is... disturbing on so many levels.
Cops have stopped people passing through on a freeway, declared they "smelled something," searched the people and "arrested" their cash even when no drugs are found. They said they "smelled something." Not even a dog alerted. Yeah, they swim in a sea of "subjective."
Nobody is safe anywhere. They don't even go through the formality of demanding papers anymore.
Wow I just found a webcase of this, the medical center BILLED the guy for all the procedures.
They billed him.
And they’re threatening him, if he doesn’t pay.
If nothing else those doctors and that hospital should never have agreed to those procedures. Unbelievable!!
The judge should
1) be personally liable for punitive damages
2) lose his job
3) be required to think of a different reason every day for a month why someone might clench his buttocks, and stand at the busiest corner in town with that reason on a placard.
Apply that to the police too.
The doctors, malpractice suit and assault charges. A colonoscopy is not a risk-free procedure - there are reactions to the anesthesia, and the risk of perforation of the intestinal wall. The police might have snowed them with “he’s probably got 300 condoms filled with heroin/cocaine in his gut. If they burst he’ll die. You’re saving his life!”
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