There is a highly disturbing case out of New Mexico where David Eckert has filed a federal case against the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office, police officers with the City of Deming and medical professionals at the Gila Regional Medical Center. Eckert was stopped on a minor traffic violation and accused by an officer of holding his buttocks. What followed was a nightmare where officers and doctors subjected Eckert to outrageous abuse as they searched for drugs or contraband in his body.
On January 2, 2013, Eckert had finished shopping at Walmart when he did not stop at a stop sign after leaving the parking lot. I recently wrote about police have used such pretext stops for searches after the Supreme Court refused to consider the motivations of police in such encounters. In this case, Eckert was told to step out of his vehicle for the minor failure to stop. An officer said that he thought Eckert appeared to be clenching his buttocks. This was used as the basis for probable cause that he had drug in his anal cavity and he was taken to a hospital in Deming for an anal exam. The doctor however refused on ethical grounds.
That did not stop the police however. They went to Gila Regional Medical Center in Silver City where doctors appear to have few ethical qualms. They reportedly x-rayed him but found no evidence of drugs. Rather than admit mistake, the doctors were then told to go forward and they explored Exkert’s anus using their fingers. No drugs were found. However, rather than admit their error, they went forward with a second penetration of the anus. No drugs were found. Rather than admit error, they then ordered a third penetration with an enema. He was then forced to defecate in front of witnesses. No drugs were found. They then penetrated his anus with a second enema. He was again forced to defecate in front of witnesses and his stool again inspected. No drugs were found. He was then penetrated a fifth time with a third enema and he was again forced to defecate in front of witnesses. No drugs were found. No willing to admit mistake, he was then sedated and doctors performed a colonoscopy where a scope with a camera was inserted into his anus, rectum, colon, and large intestines. No drugs were found. So to wrap of the account below: we have five manual penetrations; three forced defecations before witnesses; and an intrusive surgery under sedation. All of this was done without consent and without any basis other than an officer saying he looked like he was clenching his buttocks.
The alleged abuse follows the concept of “path dependence” in economics where people will not consider alternatives due to the investments in an original course or concept. When no drugs were found, it seemed to commit the police and doctors to more examinations to justify their actions.
Deming Police Chief Brandon Gigante is qouted as saying “We follow the law in every aspect and we follow policies and protocols that we have in place.” Obviously, those policies and protocols need to be examined.
David Eckert is suing The City of Deming; Deming Police Officers Bobby Orosco, Robert Chavez and Officer Hernandez; Hidalgo County Hidalgo County Deputies David Arredondo, Robert Rodriguez and Patrick Green; Deputy District Attorney Daniel Dougherty;the Gila Regional Medical Center; and doctors Robert Wilcox, M.D and Okay Odocha, M.D.
What is most disturbing is that the police secured a warrant from a judge with the presumed help of the district attorney. So if a person stopped on the most minor traffic stop appears to be clenching, that is considered sufficient for a warrant ordering an anal cavity search. The fact that such warrants are issued is a chilling glimpse into the increasing dominance of police stops and searches in our society — a trend fueled by decisions from the Supreme Court removing constitutional obstacles for police. In addition to barring review of the motivation of officers in pretextual stops, the Court has held that police can now take DNA samples from arrested individuals as a matter of course. It said also ruled that, if you remain silent, prosecutors can now use that silence against you to suggest guilt in a trial. These are only recent decisions that join a massive shift toward police powers in the United States. Citizens are finding themselves subject to the whim of officers in whether they will be allowed to leave or whether they will be searched. Police also now claim the right to handcuff citizens and transport to different locations without it being treated as placing someone into custody.
Just this week, the Supreme Court ruled that police can kick in a gate to pursue a man who ignored an order to stop. The court ruled unanimously to find qualified immunity that failure to stop is sufficient to allow warrantless entries on to property — reversing the Ninth Circuit. The police cited that fact that he was suspected of committing a misdemeanor — failure to obey an officer. In the case of Stanton v. Sims, Officer Mike Stanton was investigating an “unknown disturbance” in La Mesa when Nicholas Patrick entered a yard. Stanton kicked open the gate and hit homeowner, Drendolyn Sims, who struck her forehead on the steps. Sims sued the officer.
The Court noted that the issue is whether it was clear that the entry was unconstitutional, which the Ninth Circuit found in determining the decision was “incompetent”:
There is no suggestion in this case that Officer Stanton knowingly violated the Constitution; the question is whether, in light of precedent existing at the time, he was“plainly incompetent” in entering Sims’ yard to pursue the fleeing Patrick. Id., at ___ (slip op., at 12). The Ninth Circuit concluded that he was. It did so despite the fact that federal and state courts nationwide are sharply divided on the question whether an officer with probable cause to arrest a suspect for a misdemeanor may enter a home without a warrant while in hot pursuit of that suspect.
The Court however declined to answer the question and create a clear line. Instead, it simply found that the confusion, which will continue after this decision, was sufficient to preserve immunity:
We do not express any view on whether Officer Stanton’s entry into Sims’ yard in pursuit of Patrick was constitutional. But whether or not the constitutional rule applied by the court below was correct, it was not “beyonddebate.” al-Kidd, supra, at ___ (slip op., at 9). Stanton may have been mistaken in believing his actions were justified, but he was not “plainly incompetent.” Malley, 475 U. S., at 341.
Here is the per curiam decision.
We have not seen the response of the police to the lawsuit so this account is coming from the complaint without rebuttal or contradiction from the defendants.
Source: KOB
Kudos: Michael Blott
That was for Dredd’s comments.
LOL
In Texas, the DPS troopers have done cavity searches on the side of the road. The Texas incidents (Dobbs) and the New Mexico version (Eckert) are both equally disgusting. From a legal view, what have we evolved into?
How many times have we heard someone say about officials: “those so and sos couldn’t find their arse with both hands“, and we thought they were kidding!
AMERICA!
I LOVE IT!
YOU HAVE BEEN GIVING IT UP THE ASS TO OTHERS FOR SO LONG & YOU NEVER OBJECTED, SO ITS TIME YOU EXPERIENCED AMERICAN COLONIALISM!
UP YOUR ASS!
“Medical professionals were in effect told that their ethical mantra “first do no harm” did not apply, because they were not treating people who were ill.
The report lays blame primarily on the defence department (DoD) and the CIA, which required their healthcare staff to put aside any scruples in the interests of intelligence gathering and security practices that caused severe harm to detainees, from waterboarding to sleep deprivation and force-feeding.” -from the following article
“CIA made doctors torture suspected terrorists after 9/11, taskforce finds
Doctors were asked to torture detainees for intelligence gathering, and unethical practices continue, review concludes”
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/04/cia-doctors-torture-suspected-terrorists-9-11
Excerpt:
“Doctors and psychologists working for the US military violated the ethical codes of their profession under instruction from the defence department and the CIA to become involved in the torture and degrading treatment of suspected terrorists, an investigation has concluded.
The report of the Taskforce on Preserving Medical Professionalism in National Security Detention Centres concludes that after 9/11, health professionals working with the military and intelligence services “designed and participated in cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment and torture of detainees”.
Medical professionals were in effect told that their ethical mantra “first do no harm” did not apply, because they were not treating people who were ill.
The report lays blame primarily on the defence department (DoD) and the CIA, which required their healthcare staff to put aside any scruples in the interests of intelligence gathering and security practices that caused severe harm to detainees, from waterboarding to sleep deprivation and force-feeding.
The two-year review by the 19-member taskforce, Ethics Abandoned: Medical Professionalism and Detainee Abuse in the War on Terror, supported by the Institute on Medicine as a Profession (IMAP) and the Open Society Foundations, says that the DoD termed those involved in interrogation “safety officers” rather than doctors. Doctors and nurses were required to participate in the force-feeding of prisoners on hunger strike, against the rules of the World Medical Association and the American Medical Association. Doctors and psychologists working for the DoD were required to breach patient confidentiality and share what they knew of the prisoner’s physical and psychological condition with interrogators and were used as interrogators themselves. They also failed to comply with recommendations from the army surgeon general on reporting abuse of detainees.
The CIA’s office of medical services played a critical role in advising the justice department that “enhanced interrogation” methods, such as extended sleep deprivation and waterboarding, which are recognised as forms of torture, were medically acceptable. CIA medical personnel were present when waterboarding was taking place, the taskforce says.
Although the DoD has taken steps to address concerns over practices at Guantánamo Bay in recent years, and the CIA has said it no longer has suspects in detention, the taskforce says that these “changed roles for health professionals and anaemic ethical standards” remain.
“The American public has a right to know that the covenant with its physicians to follow professional ethical expectations is firm regardless of where they serve,” said Dr Gerald Thomson, professor of medicine emeritus at Columbia University and member of the taskforce.
He added: “It’s clear that in the name of national security the military trumped that covenant, and physicians were transformed into agents of the military and performed acts that were contrary to medical ethics and practice. We have a responsibility to make sure this never happens again.”The taskforce says that unethical practices by medical personnel, required by the military, continue today. The DoD “continues to follow policies that undermine standards of professional conduct” for interrogation, hunger strikes, and reporting abuse. Protocols have been issued requiring doctors and nurses to participate in the force-feeding of detainees, including forced extensive bodily restraints for up to two hours twice a day.
Doctors are still required to give interrogators access to medical and psychological information about detainees which they can use to exert pressure on them. Detainees are not permitted to receive treatment for the distress caused by their torture.
“Putting on a uniform does not and should not abrogate the fundamental principles of medical professionalism,” said IMAP president David Rothman. “‘Do no harm’ and ‘put patient interest first’ must apply to all physicians regardless of where they practise.”The taskforce wants a full investigation into the involvement of the medical profession in detention centres. It is also calling for publication of the Senate intelligence committee’s inquiry into CIA practices and wants rules to ensure doctors and psychiatrists working for the military are allowed to abide by the ethical obligations of their profession; they should be prohibited from taking part in interrogation, sharing information from detainees’ medical records with interrogators, or participating in force-feeding, and they should be required to report abuse of detainees.”
The doctors are getting as bad as the police. This was not only an atrocity committed by law enforcement.. It is disgraceful to the medical profession as well.. Further it should be noted. After enduring 14 hrs of humiliation, degradation, and torture at the hands of his oppressors. David Eckart was then sent a bill for the unwanted medical procedures from Gila Regional Medical Center..and threatened by the hospital that he would be subject to forfeiture, and collection claims if he refused to pay.
This is not the first time that law enforcement agencies, and doctors have corroborated in using medical procedures for investigative or interrogation purposes.
http://reason.com/blog/2013/11/04/military-and-cia-order-military-docs-do
This is the country we have created.. Time for real change.. and not brought about by a puppet…
“Some Docs are going to be paying an even bigger price for their lack of ethics and courage.” -Annie
To be sure. What we’re seeing, IMO, is a trickling-down of our post-9/11 torture polices.
To that point, a recently released report is instructive:
“Ethics Abandoned: Medical Professionalism and Detainee Abuse in the War on Terror”
http://hrp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/IMAP-EthicsTextFinal2.pdf
“The report details how DoD and CIA policies institutionalized a variety of interventions by military and intelligence agency doctors and psychologists that breach ethical standards to promote well-being and avoid harm.” -The Institute on Medicine as a Profession (IMAP)
The victim is going to be paid big bucks for his pain and suffering. Some Docs are going to be paying an even bigger price for their lack of ethics and courage.
This is going to be a re-hash of my comment on the Kenya Rape story.. As I was finishing my comment on that story I found this one, and as it is relevant, I have decided to re-post here..
This is not just a third world country issue.. We can not read reports like this, shake our heads, and feel fortunate we live in america were nothing like this could ever happen..
http://www.salon.com/2013/08/13/virginia_police_department_policy_used_to_classify_all_rape_victims_as_liars/
Rape in this country also does not happen only to women, and sometimes comes from the most shocking of circumstances, and conditions.
http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S3209305.shtml?cat=500#.UnqDx_k3s1O
and yes, I would categorize 14 hrs of invasive procedures, against the subjects will or consent, as rape. Personally I feel law enforcement agencies throughout this country should be investigated for crimes against humanity.. War crimes even.. After all in their own words. “They made a mistake. There’s no one to blame for a mistake,” former Miami City attorney, Richard Kane. said of the police, in an unrelated case to the one above. “The way these people were treated has to be judged in the context of a war.”
this is absurd!! I hope the punitive damages awarded to this man bankrupt the police department, the doctors office and the officers in this case.
JAG, Some of those right wingers on the Court are VERY strong on the 4th Amendment. Scalia would never allow this.
It wasn’t just the cops who were at fault here. The vacuous doctors who seem to think it’s OK to perform medical procedures on patients without their consent are also to blame.
“In any reasonable jurisdiction the treatment that Mr. Eckert received would be called rape.”
My feelings as well. If rape is more about power than sex (which is surmised by many experts)…this looks like rape.
As a graduate of New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy back in what I guess was the ‘enlightened era’ and a commission/certified law enforcement officer I find this sickening. We always had hammered into our feeble brains that a suspect had rights, was a human being. i knew that, coming from the Viet Vet anti-war movement. Coming from despotic SE Texas it was a ray of light to know that some cops were actually good guys. I am extremely sorry to hear this story, I thought at least New Mexico was better. It was then and so were the officers I worked with.
Anyone w/ IBT or colitis should leave Deming immediately.
Unfcukingbelievable.
We have reached the point where the Bill of Rights gives up few protections – cops can do what they want.
Up to the individual how he/she will behave after receiving this kind of “legal” abuse.
In any reasonable jurisdiction the treatment that Mr. Eckert received would be called rape.
You know what is find puzzling…. in the USA people are always going on
about taxes and how taxes make the citizens less free in their society….
ALL the while while complaining about these taxes and electing Presidents who stack the Supreme Court with FAR Right Wingers…. we have now created a Police State where citizens REALLY have no rights any longer
and these things are allowed to go on……
BUT….. hey…. at least the USA has low taxes…….
It is a great slight of hand……
You know…at some point you start to wonder if we have reached the boiling point of the “how to slowly cook a frog”…only in our case it is a functioning police state where law enforcement has effectively become unaccountable and can act as a military force. I still cannot forget the pictures from that mass traffic stop in Aurora, Colorado where nearly two dozen motorists were handcuffed…and you can see a frightened child exiting a car with his hands up while a shotgun and a handgun are pointing at him. This story here strikes me as more of the same: the police can do anything…literally anything…to you and then claim they followed procedures. Not a single one of them will be punished, and they can keep doing it.