Man to Get $1.6M for Humiliating 3-Enema Ordeal After Traffic Stop
Source: ABA Journal
Man to get $1.6M for humiliating 3-enema ordeal after traffic stop
By Martha Neil
Jan 15, 2014, 12:15 pm CST
A city and county in New Mexico have agreed to settle for $1.6 million their portion of litigation brought by an arrestee who said he was subjected to a humiliating hospital anal exam involving three enemas, a colonoscopy and more after a traffic stop last year.
The city of Deming and Hidalgo County got a search warrant to authorize the examination of David Eckert after he was pulled over for failing to yield to a stop sign when exiting a parking lot on Jan. 2. It was based on a police dog's alert to the alleged presence of drugs near the driver's seat of his vehicle and a claim that Eckert appeared to be clenching his buttocks, according to the Associated Press and Forbes.
However, the warrant was valid only in Luna County, and a physician at a Deming emergency room refused to perform the examination, Eckert alleges in his suit, which was filed in federal court in New Mexico. Doctors at a second hospital, Gila Regional Medical Center, agreed to perform the exam, but the facility is located in Silver City, across the county line.
Despite the exam, no drugs were found on Eckert or in his vehicle.
"It was medically unethical and unconstitutional," his lawyer, Shannon Kennedy, told the Associated Press. "He feels relieved that this part is over and believes this litigation might make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else."
Read more: http://www.abajournal.com/mobile/article/man_to_get_1.6m_for_humiliating_3-enema_hospital_colonoscopy_ordeal_after
http://gawker.com/man-who-endured-3-enema-traffic-stop-awarded-1-6-milli-1502645746
- snip -
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.
Eckert's suit also named Gila Medical Center and the doctors who performed the search there; that portion of the case is still ongoing.
noiretextatique
(27,275 posts)totally fng outrageous behavior by the cops and the doctors.
1000words
(7,051 posts)Cha-ching!
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)to call this unethical is an understatement
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)And should have included some revoked medical licenses!
lapfog_1
(29,223 posts)I would think that the award should be for $10 million and a promise by police to retire all drug sniffing dogs.
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)Or you're having a bit of fun?
sdfernando
(4,941 posts)the doctors and medical center portion of the suit are still ongoing.
Xipe Totec
(43,890 posts)warrant46
(2,205 posts)WOW !! What a job can you imagine 8 straight hours of searching stools for drugs !!
Awesome !! I'll bet they were paid more than the minimum wage.
Imagine the stench
NeoConsSuck
(2,544 posts)If it wasn't enough to bankrupt the city, then it wasn't enough. Tough for the residents, but if they elected the politicians that allowed the police to act like gestapos, they deserve to live in a bankrupt city.
msanthrope
(37,549 posts)pockets than the cops.
christx30
(6,241 posts)from the personal pensions and bank accounts of the officers involved. Maybe if the cops had a personal stake in not violating someone's constitutional rights, they wouldn't do something like this again.
Right now they only thing at stake is having evidence thrown out of court.
bvar22
(39,909 posts)Until the officers themselves are liable for their misconduct,
nothing much will change.
The citizens/taxpayers of the city and county will be forced to pick up the tab for this.
7962
(11,841 posts)bpj62
(999 posts)There seem to be a new pattern developing when police officers pull someone over, they either say they detected the smell of marijuana and iniate a search or they say that the k-9 alerted them to the presence of drugs somewhere in the vehicle. The plan is full proof because most of the people that they do this to do not have the resources to file a complaint or get an attorney. Most jurisdictions are short on cash and seizures of vehicles provide them with a cash infusion so I guess the figure they will get it right sometime. Regarding this case I hope the hospital loses big time because what they did is nothing short of state sanctioned sexual assault. They did a digital exam and came up with nothing, they x-rayed him and came up with nothing and they gave him and enema and still nothing. At what point does the doctor say enough is enough.
bvar22
(39,909 posts)....we only have the word of the dog's handler,
and even THAT is a SUBJECTIVE interpretation of the dog's behavior.
No WAY should this be allowed in court, or as evidence for a Search Warrant,
UNTIL the dog can talk and be held accountable.
KansDem
(28,498 posts)The cops got off cheap...
SkatmanRoth
(843 posts)QuestForSense
(653 posts)Which makes me think they weren't. Also, those doctors were co-torturers. I wonder if any were even so much as censured.
Ilsa
(61,698 posts)Was awarded another handsome award from the hospital and those doctors that violated him.
jmowreader
(50,562 posts)The cops need to lose the privilege of working for any government agency in the US.
valerief
(53,235 posts)sulphurdunn
(6,891 posts)The people who did this don't care. They aren't paying for anything and won't be punished legally. There is no disincentive for them not to do it again. I can't imagine what the hospital bill was for that abuse, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn the cops got a kickback from it.
Judi Lynn
(160,621 posts)Man subject to enemas settles with police
Local authorities pay $1.6 after 'multiple digital penetrations and three enemas'
Author: By Carma Hassan and Greg Botelho CNN
Published On: Jan 16 2014 04:55:36 PM CST Updated On: Jan 16 2014 05:59:07 PM CST
(CNN) -
A New Mexico man has settled with local authorities for $1.6 million after claiming police forced him to undergo "multiple digital penetrations and three enemas" on an invalid warrant and without finding any of the illicit drugs they were looking for.
David Eckert "feels gratified that the city and county acted quickly, and ... that they recognize his dignity and humanity," his lawyer, Joe Kennedy, said Thursday. "He expects that it won't happen to anyone else ever again."
Hildalgo County, New Mexico, Manager Jose Salazar, the top official in the county involved in the settlement, declined to comment on Thursday. And a CNN call to Deming, New Mexico, police Chief Brandon Gigante was not immediately returned.
Eckert, 54, who sued the county and police departments last year, said that he feels he "got some justice, as I think the settlement shows they were wrong to do what they did to me."
More:
http://www.ksat.com/news/Man-subject-to-enemas-settles-with-police/-/478452/23968066/-/ct9g5dz/-/index.html
RKP5637
(67,112 posts)Th1onein
(8,514 posts)I think he ought to have received more, but I'm glad that there are cases still pending against the doctors and the hospital.
bananas
(27,509 posts)The offenders should be imprisoned for life and registered as sex offenders.
Including the judge who issued the search warrant.
There is no excuse for this.
RandySF
(59,221 posts)Isn't this the same state where troopers shot at a woman and her kids in a van?
godevil10
(63 posts)of the actions of a couple of cops and doctors. Sounds about right here.
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)Why do cops there think they can get away with that crap?
Where's the oversight on that police department?
24601
(3,962 posts)he's complaining? There's no pleasing some people.
Baalzamon
(21 posts)It was obvious from the start this guy was going to never have to work again when civil suits were finished.$1.6 million now, a whole lot more on the way. If he's smart, he will hire a financial advisor to set up a portfolio and live off the dividends for the rest of his life. At 1.6 million, he's already looking at like $6,000 per month if it is set up right. Not bad for having to endure 24 hours of humiliation.