avoid new mexico!! or give up that ass!

[mike_b_284]

http://www.krmg.com/news/news/minor-...2013_partners2

Deming, N.M. —
Most drivers would likely expect to get a stern warning, or at worst a traffic ticket, from a police officer for failing to make a complete stop at a stop sign.
But for a New Mexico man, it instead turned into a 14-hour-long humiliating and invasive police goose chase for illegal drugs -- that is, according to a federal lawsuit filed against law-enforcement and other parties.
According to KOB-TV, David Eckert says he was leaving a shopping plaza parking lot when he was pulled over by Deming police.
Officers claim that after they asked Eckert to step out of the vehicle, "he appeared to be clenching his buttocks." Investigators also claim a police dog alerted them to the scent of drugs on Eckert's car seat.
According to the lawsuit, the officers then claimed they had enough probable cause to suspect that Eckert was hiding "narcotics in his anal cavity."
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Eckert says he was then taken to a nearby emergency room to have the invasive search completed. When a doctor at that facility refused, police took Eckert to another medical center willing to conduct the procedure.
The lawsuit says Eckert was then forced to undergo a laundry list of medical procedures in the officers' effort to find drugs:

• His abdominal area was X-rayed.
• Two digital examinations were performed by doctors.
• Three separate enemas and being forced to "defecate in front of doctors and police" on numerous occasions.
• Another X-ray and finally a colonoscopy were performed

The lawsuit states that narcotics were never found despite the rigorous examinations. It also claims that at no time did Eckert give his permission for the medical procedures.
Additionally, Eckert's attorney says the search warrant used to justify the searches was not valid in the county her client was examined in.
Eckert is suing the city of Deming, three individual Deming police officers, several county sheriff's deputies, a district attorney and the medical facility that performed the procedures.

[COchief]

Originally Posted by HoneyBadger

I have to think there's another side to this story. I mean you would think the cops, judge or doctors would, at some point, use common sense if this was the true story.

Did you read the part about where the first doctor/hospital told them to get stuffed and they refused to do it?

[A Salt Weapon]

The warrant had also expired before they even started prepping for the colonoscopy.

[jspchief]

The story left out the best part.

The hospital billed him for all the procedures.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by COchief

Did you read the part about where the first doctor/hospital told them to get stuffed and they refused to do it?

That doctor deserves some kudos.

What an outrageous story, if true.

[Tombstone RJ]

I hope this guy gets a buttload of $ for this crappy police work.

[mike_b_284]

Originally Posted by jspchief

The story left out the best part.

The hospital billed him for all the procedures.

Q

[Dayze]

Originally Posted by Otter

Hehe, I have a pretty good kayaking friend with the same name. I wonder if there's something he hasn't told me. Not that I'd blame him if it's him and he didn't tell.

On a side note: I'd be on the phone with best litigation attorney available and looking for a way to offshore the settlement.

Reported

[Dayze]

I've been stopped / approached by a cop when there were probably 50 of us watching bikes do stunts illegally. He asked for my ID and I refused. He got in my shit, and I asked him if I was free to go. I didn't say shit. we went back and forth and finally I told him if I wasn't being detained, then I'm leaving. Of course he wasn't keen on that idea.

then after we had dispersed, the MF stopped me about 100yds down the street on my sportbike because he 'thought the exhaust was too loud" (even though it was stock). So when it's all said and done, he did get my ID afterall. I really hate 90% of cops.

[JD10367]

That dog's laughing his ass off back at the K-9 barracks. "Hey, Rover! I did it again! That's the second time I got them to go up someone's ass!"

[pr_capone]

same police department, same hospital, different person undergoing the same bullshit. to top it off, the dog isn't certified in New Mexico and hasn't been recertified at all since 2011. oh... and it has a history of false hits.

http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S...0#.UnsOWuKlpmo

It's a story that has left the entire country wondering about the state of law enforcement in New Mexico.

4 On Your Side revealed how David Eckert rolled through a stop sign in Deming.

A K-9 named Leo alerted that it sniffed drugs on Eckert's driver's seat.

And, for the next 14 hours, those police officers, and doctors at the Gila Regional Medical Center performed eight medical procedures including x-rays, rectal finger exams, enemas, and finally a colonoscopy.

According to a federal lawsuit, officers Bobby Orosco and Robert Chavez were two of the officers involved, and they never found drugs inside Eckert.

Our investigation reveals another chapter. Another man, another minor traffic violation, another incident with Leo the K-9 and another example of the violation of a man's body.

Police reports state deputies stopped Timothy Young because he turned without putting his blinker on.

Again, Leo the K-9 alerts on Young's seat.

Young is taken to the Gila Regional Medical Center in Silver City, and just like Eckert, he's subjected to medical procedures including x-rays of his stomach and an anal exam.

Again, police found nothing, and again the procedures were done without consent, and in a county not covered by the search warrant.

We've learned more about that drug dog, Leo, that seems to get it wrong pretty often. He might be getting it wrong because he's not even certified in New Mexico.

If you take a look at the dog's certification, the dog did get trained. But his certification to be a drug dog expired in April 2011. K-9s need yearly re-certification courses, and Leo is falling behind.

"We have done public requests to find anything that would show this dog has been trained, we have evidence that this dog has had false alerts in the past," Eckert's attorney Shannon Kennedy said.

The doctors from the Gila Regional Medical Center have been turned over to the state licensing board. It's possible they could lose the ability to practice medicine.

And the police officers will be answering to a law enforcement board.

[Imon Yourside]

Originally Posted by pr_capone

same police department, same hospital, different person undergoing the same bullshit. to top it off, the dog isn't certified in New Mexico and hasn't been recertified at all since 2011. oh... and it has a history of false hits.

http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S...0#.UnsOWuKlpmo

ANAL Fixation?

[Dave Lane]

Originally Posted by A Salt Weapon

The warrant had also expired before they even started prepping for the colonoscopy.

Free colonoscopy. Hmmmmm...

[crazycoffey]

Originally Posted by pr_capone

FYP

I see what you did there.....

[frankotank]

Originally Posted by COchief

The amount of money this man will be paid will be ridiculous, I would gladly go through that hell for one day for 5-10 million. Do not feel sorry for this man, sure it sucked, but he will be set for life.

we were just talking about this and I asked....so who would go thru that for a couple million.
at first....noone answered. then one guy says I WOULD! for a couple Mill they can hit me up once a month.

[mike_b_284]

Again??? this time El Paso.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/latestnew...er-crossing-at

Woman sues over vaginal, anal exams in El Paso drug search

New Mexico woman was searched for six hours at border, University Medical Center
By Aaron Bracamontes / El Paso TimesPosted: 12/18/2013 10:39:21 PM MST

	REPORTER
	Aaron Bracamontes

›› View a copy of the lawsuit
A New Mexico woman claims in a federal lawsuit that she underwent a brutal and inhumane six-hour full-body cavity search by federal officers that included anal and vaginal probes that made her feel like an "animal."
The woman, a Lovington, N.M. resident, also is suing University Medical Center, where she was forced to have an observed bowel movement, was X-rayed, had a speculum exam, vaginal exam and had a CT scan.
The suit claims the hospital "violated her" and then gave her the $5,000 bill.
The lawsuit names the El Paso County Hospital District's Board of Managers, University Medical Center, Drs. Michael Parsa and Christopher Cabanillas, two unknown supervising U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers and two other CBP officers only identified by their last names of Portillo and Herrera as defendants. The doctors and the agents could not be reached for comment.
The 54-year-old woman, who is not identified in the suit, is asking for an unspecified amount of money and to end the policy that gives federal agents and officers the authority to stick their fingers and objects up people's cavities when they search for drugs.
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union in federal court in El Paso on behalf of the woman who was stopped as she crossed at the Bridge of the Americas a year ago. Despite the six-hour search at the port and then later at UMC, no drugs were found.
The woman is identified as Jane Doe in the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, the woman was first frisked and strip-searched at the port of entry, where officers stuck their fingers inside her rectum and vagina. When that search came up negative, she was taken to University Medical Center.
"These extreme and illegal searches deeply traumatized our client," ACLU of New Mexico Legal Director Laura Schauer Ives said in the news release. "The fact that our government treated an innocent 54-year-old woman with such brutality and inhumanity should outrage all Americans. We must ensure that government agents never put another person through a nightmare like this ever again."
A spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a prepared statement that the agency could not talk about a specific lawsuit.
"As a practice CBP does not comment on pending litigation," the statement said. "CBP stresses honor and integrity in every aspect of our mission, and the overwhelming majority of CBP employees and officers perform their duties with honor and distinction, working tirelessly every day to keep our country safe. We do not tolerate corruption or abuse within our ranks, and we fully cooperate with any criminal or administrative investigations of alleged misconduct by any of our personnel, on or off-duty."
University Medical Center also declined to get into specifics of the lawsuit.
"Hospital policy is to obtain consent from all patients who receive medical services at UMC," spokeswoman Margaret Altoff-Olivas said in a statement. "Because this case involves litigation, UMC will not be commenting further."
The search took place at about 2 p.m. Dec. 12, 2012, when the woman was coming back from seeing a family friend, whom she calls "uncle" and tries to visit once a month.
As her passport was swiped, a CBP officer told her she was "randomly" picked for a secondary inspection, where Portillo and Herrera frisked her through her clothing.
"One of the agents ran her finger over Ms. Doe's genital area during the frisk," the lawsuit said.
Then the woman was told to squat as one of the officers "inserted her finger in the crevice of Ms. Doe's buttocks." The frisk did not show any evidence of contraband or drugs, the lawsuit said.
Then the woman was told to stand in a line with other people as a drug-sniffing dog walked by.
The officer with the dog "hit the ground by her feet, but did not hit the ground by any of the others in the line," the lawsuit said. "The dog responded by lunging onto Ms. Doe and landing its front paws on her torso."
Ives said she does not believe this was a proper signal to indicate a drugs were present, but officers used it to continue the search.
The woman was taken to another room and asked to take off her pants and crouch as her anus and vagina were examined with a flashlight, the lawsuit said.
The woman, now crying, was taken to University Medical Center after the strip search did not find anything.
"During the car ride to the Medical Center, Ms. Doe asked if the agents had a warrant," the lawsuit said. "One of them responded that they did not need a warrant."
While handcuffed to an examination table, the woman was searched again by both officers and Cabanillas and Parsa. She was given a laxative and had a bowel movement in a portable toilet in front of both officers, the lawsuit said.
Then the woman's abdomen was X-rayed, but there were no signs of drugs or any other contraband in the woman's body. A speculum was used to probe her vagina and Parsa's fingers were used to inspect both her vagina and rectum while the door to the examining room was left open, the lawsuit said.
At this point the lawsuit claims, "Ms. Doe felt that she was being treated less than human, like an animal."
The last test was a CT scan of the woman's abdomen and pelvis, which resulted in no evidence of illegal activity being found.
The lawsuit said after the CT scan one of the officers told the woman she could sign the medical consent form and CBP would pay for the exams, but if she did not sign, she would be charged. The woman refused to sign and eventually she was charged more than $5,000 for the examinations.
According to the lawsuit, she repeatedly refused to consent to any of the searches.
University Medical Center's search of patients policy states, "Associates, members of Medical Staff, Residents or Allied Health Professionals may search a patient only when necessary to comply with a search warrant." Under the subhead procedure, the policy states, "...unless a patient consents, an invasion of the patient's body to obtain evidence requires a search warrant."
A warrant was not obtained, the lawsuit said.
"However, in practice, the Medical Center staff and CBP agents routinely conduct invasive cavity searches without warrant, consent or sufficient suspicion to justify the searches," the lawsuit said. "When Ms. Doe expressed dismay about the unreasonable searches she suffered, a Medical Center employee responded that these procedures were routinely followed when an individual is brought in by CBP agents."
In a phone interview, Ives said searches like the one the 54-year-old woman went through are illegal and becoming common among law enforcement.
"When the less intrusive search didn't find any evidence of drugs, more intrusive searches should have not been used," Ives said. "Any one of those searches should have eliminated any suspicion of drugs. A second search should make it clear and at most a third search should have been the last."
She said: "The fact that this happened to a 54-year-old woman should outrage anyone. She did ask to talk to an attorney and she did ask for a warrant. I don't know what guarantees there are to our rights other than a lawsuit like this one that hold the government agencies responsible."
Last month, a Deming man sued Deming police officers who gave him three enemas, two anal probes and a colonoscopy after he was suspected of having drugs. The search found nothing, and lawyers for the man said the warrant used to conduct the search failed to show probable cause.
Aaron Bracamontes may be reached at 546-6156.