New Mexico cops, doctors force man to undergo 7-hour ordeal involving rectal probes after traffic st

I try and call things down the middle based on the facts I can get my hands on.
It doesn't always come in line with the anti-police element on ATS.
To maintain that approach I have to say this case seems pretty cut and dried for it being illegal, excessive and horrible. Clearly , like all walks of life, their are horrible/abusive/evil law enforcement agents. It doesn't change my plan to judge each police officer/person I see or read about based on their actions.

I hope the victim in this case gets whatever victories they can either financial or in whatever way brings them some small measure of peace.

reply to post by sdcigarpig

It would seem that anal probes aren't just for aliens anymore.

Spookybelle
reply to post by sdcigarpig

 

You should probably read the official police report because this article seems very, very suspicious. It starts out with this little nugget,

The police allowed him to walk away after issuing a citation (he was stopped in front of his house) but continued to badger him with questions.

I don't know many officers that give you a ticket and release you then follow you to harass you with questions. Usually they do that while you are being detained.

Was this guy causing some sort of altercation after he was released or something?

Obviously there is information missing so don't go jumping to any conclusions.

How he behaves doesn't justify forced medical procedures against his will. The only other similar case I can think of is when a innocent man in Australia was walking along the street one evening only to be arrested by the police and "returned" to a mental health facility where he was forced to take powerful anti-psychotic medication. When he immediately suffered severe (and long-term) side-effects, only then did the duty staff realize their mistake and call paramedics to try and save him.

If the police officers had genuine suspicions that he was "containing" anything, then they could have detained him for 24 hours and allowed nature to take its course. Some police departments have special cells where the contents of the urinals can be checked under hygienic conditions for traces of drugs and any other items.

As things are, the medical search warrant expired between the time the left the first hospital. The first hospital refused because the "treatment" was unethical - that's set a precedent for this case. Technically he has a right to remain silent, a right to not self-incriminate, a right not to have medical treatment forced on him (unless it was an infectious disease). They've thrown all three out the window, despite having already been given legally binding medical advice. I can only see a massive out-of-court settlement coming from the hospital and police departments now.

The whole problem with all of this is, first these animals have their "Brothers in Blue" supporting them.
They will lie, cheat, steal, and intimidate witnesses and family members to make sure the "right" story is told.

After that, they have their tricks and training which teaches them what to say, and how to say it.
E.g. He went for my gun and I feared for my life!

Next, they have laws written to specifically ensure their safety, placing all the public at risk to ensure the well being of cops who will ultimately abuse the very law written to "protect" them.
E.g. Pat and Search.

When indisputable proof is available to show that, regardless of all the above, the officer still broke the law they are sworn to uphold, they are placed on paid leave, while the bevy of lawyers employed by the F.O.B. (police union) steps in to defend the criminal by any means necessary.

And even if, after all of that, they are still found guilty, there are rarely criminal charges.
More often, the officer retires or resigns, in order for the community to avoid another long, costly court battle.

The offending criminal, when a cop, faces nearly zero repercussions for his crime, to the point that the community even pays the lawsuits brought by the victims.


Until these criminals face actual repercussions for their actions, we as a community, can expect more of the same.

reply to post by sdcigarpig


I am fairly new to ATS and do not know how to post yet. But if I could I would say "What in the wide, wide world of sports is going on in New Mexico?" Wonder if it has anything to do with the air space that was closed last week?

Another man was stopped by the same officers and given the same probes, etc. Here is the link to story.

www.kob.com...


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.





Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on email Share on gmail More Sharing Services 249







Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on email Share on gmail More Sharing Services 249

reply to post by sdcigarpig


How sad to open up ATS and see this story listed first with what, 60 stars and how many flags? A few corrupt cops and we paint the whole profession with the same judgmental brush? I'm getting a little weary of the police bashing here on ATS.

Every story has 2 sides. I'd prefer to hear BOTH sides before I form an opinion on this... Wait! Even if I had all the details, I still wouldn't care.....

reply to post by sdcigarpig


In some Country's what crime you do to others is done to you when you are convicted. I agree !
Or maybe thrown in jail, same thing.

reply to post by meemaw


so your defending these police officers that apparently are going around forcing tools objects and their fingers into innocent citizens anuses? officers that have shown a disregard for the rights of citizens by doing this to multiple people?did you not read the dozen+ articles on the case? or the charges cited by the plaintiffs lawyer? cops who in both cases cited found zero evidence of drugs what so ever? what these police did is the most despicable thing ive heard about in my 28 years of life on this planet and they need to swing for this as well as any one else who had a hand in this an example must be set of them and the book thrown at them,to quote ASAC Shrader from breaking bad they need to put these animals UNDER the jail.

what excuse could the officers even have for this travesty of justice? and regardless of opinions on the failed drug war even if he was a smuggler making some one go through all these procedures against their will not to mention being put under general anesthesia (huge risk) for them to go digging for more after they didnt find anything by the first 4 illegal acts? i didnt think we would see any one defending these idiots as the case is pretty cut and dry and far from cop bashing that you seem to think it is.

we hold police officers to a higher standard(or at least we should) then the general populace but calling out bad cops is suddenly bashing all the good ones? where were the good ones that should have stopped this in the first hour or so of the investigation....the line just following orders is as crappy now as it was back at Nuremberg.

even if this post by the OP was trying to paint all cops with a broad brush(hint they weren't) it would just further show the hypocrisies that infest our society: labeling all cops bad not fair!but the minute some one shoots any one lets disarm all the lawful gun owners for safety of the general populace and calls for gun control echo in the senate and house. (this happens all the time but considered ok?) Arabs bomb our buildings and commit acts of terror now suddenly Islam is the threat hate all of them with a broad brush and its fine(war on terror dont ya know...) but no no no no how dare we paint cops with a broad brush that would be horribly unfair to them.

if you dont want cops all getting judged the same way lets get some headlines of cops making a stand against corruption,once officers start testifying and putting their "brothers and sisters in blue" behind bars when they step out of line then we wont judge them "unfairly" as you put it but as long as they do nothing when corruption happens and when rights are taken away and follow the blue code of silence. once officers start getting suspended WITHOUT pay and actually go to jail for their crimes(and none of that lets put them safe and sound in PC crap)then the people might just be a little less likely to paint with such a broad brush

the militarization of the police is escalating much more rapidly then even Orwell could have believed,news reports from around the nation from small towns to big cities constantly remind us of how much more frequent these violations have been occurring during the last 12 years and trust and faith in the police is dropping due to the fact now a days calling the police for anything is almost more dangerous then what ever crime your being a victim of at the time. anal probes,strip searches planted evidence and corruption are the stories we get fed about the police now a days. long gone are the stories of the hero cops turning on his bought off fellows(obvious exceptions exist) or officers putting their lives on the line to save innocent people,gone are the beat cops that actually walked their communities and got to know them as people instead of possible combatants or threats.they let there fear control them,the fear of the people they are supposed to be protecting.
as yoda said fear is the path to the dark-side,fear leads to anger,anger leads to hate and hate leads to suffering www.youtube.com...

sorry for the rant but your reply struck a nerve with me as i thought(foolishly as this is the internet after all) that for once we had a story that not even the shills and trolls could defend the police actions in this case repeatedly raping a man in search of SUSPECTED drug possession ,in the medical professionals case medical assault and battery by performing invasive and dangerous medical procedures against a patients wishes. if you defend the officers actions i hope you are never pulled over with clenched butt cheeks as we know how that goes down in new mexico

www.theiacp.org... interesting link on how "police approval rating" works and the things the positively and negatively change it and how perception of the police differs now from what it used to be

reply to post by meemaw

Normally I would back the police and support them. I do not bash the police and believe that they have a rough job, and are just trying to do the best that they can do, under most circumstances.

However, the police, like public officials, when acting in accordance with their job need to hold a higher standard and code of conduct. What these officers did was wrong. The fact of this case, even by their notes, and actions, violated the rights of Mr. Eckhardt.

First they detain him, there is nothing wrong with that, in fact, sometimes the police have to do such. We all agree with that. Mr. Eckhardt, did indeed violate the law with a minor, and I repeat, a minor traffic infraction. Did Mr. Eckhardt run, no, so therefore, he so far is abiding by the laws of the state, having done nothing save fail to come to a complete stop.

The police asked to search his vehicle, and he agreed to a search. Here is where the rights start to go wrong, and this is clear cut violation of his rights. The animal they used, was not certified to look for drugs. Kind of like having a radar detector that is not been tested or calibrated, it makes the entire case fall apart in court. And all cause the dog, going wild on the auto seat, and the man standing there with his butt clenched is ground to suspect he has drugs up his rectum? Ok, so they need to do an exam, ok, but when he did not consent to the physical search of his person, when he did not consent to the medical procedure, asking for a lawyer, a phone call, and detained against his will, that is a clear cut violation of his rights.

This was not done in a legal manner. While it would have hold more weight in court if the first 2 exams yielded something is there but it did not. The x-ray did not show anything, the anal probe showed nothing, and the first enema did not show anything. So how many enema’s, x-rays and anal examinations does it take, showing nothing, before the police accept that there is nothing there? And to make matters worse, after all of this, the medical facility, acting on the accordance of the police, have the gall to charge Mr. Eckhardt, an innocent man, held without charge for 12 hours, subject to these tests long after the warrant had expired, in another county, for which there was no cause for such, is asked to pay 6000.00 dollars for this ordeal?

Be it as it may, there is a good chance that he will win and win big. The basis for this is on a Supreme Court Case, Rochin V. California, 1952. Where it was determined that the failure to have a charge and consent, evidence cannot be used in any court case. And it passed in a 6 to 2 decision.

reply to post by RalagaNarHallas

The man in the story will have his day in court, and all the details of the case will come to light and justice, which ever way the pendulum sways, will be served.

There are bad cops, bad cashiers, bad grocers, bad construction workers...you name the profession and there are people who shouldn't be in it. I'm all for staying informed and bringing to light those incidents that some people in power would want to keep hidden in the dark but there is no way that I can support the, sometimes hysterical, responses to this story that I've been reading here. There are far more frightening and threatening things going on in the world and some guy who gets his butt probed doesn't take top billing with me. I won't apologize I choose not to stand aside some of the posters here and lynch all police and enforcement officers for the acts of a few bad ones. If that's the position you want to take, then can all ATSers be judged as illiterates or intellectually challenged because of the few who appear to be so?

I'm hardly ever in favor of lawsuits but if pretty much any of the allegations here are true I'm all for it.

I don't care if the cops know the guy is a dirtbag and he got mouthy. I don't care if he has a history of smuggling drugs in his person. I don't even care if he had assaulted them. You do not get to flagrantly break laws and subject someone to this kind of degradation. It's completely reprehensible.

I really can't see the cops having done much worse other than shooting him in the head while he was in handcuffs in front of a news crew. What they did was absurd. My only guess is that they knew they were screwed and were hoping for a magic baggie invisible to x-ray and digital examination to get flushed out so they had an excuse for their utterly disgusting behavior.

Clearly there is something horribly wrong with these cops or else the entire story is BS. There is a possibility it's complete nonsense, but I doubt it. Still, the only evidence I've seen so far is the filing with the court. People can file anything, doesn't mean it won't be laughed out.

One thing I would like to see from this is a nationwide discussion about judges rubber stamping search warrants. I think this has always been a problem. This is a very good example of what can go wrong.

Next time you hear someone say 'I've got nothing to hide so I have nothing to fear.' share this story with them.

reply to post by sdcigarpig

This was not done in a legal manner. While it would have hold more weight in court if the first 2 exams yielded something is there but it did not. The x-ray did not show anything, the anal probe showed nothing, and the first enema did not show anything. So how many enema’s, x-rays and anal examinations does it take, showing nothing, before the police accept that there is nothing there?

In my America...it's never going to be legal to stick anything in my mud cutter.

When did we concede our body contents?

I would never consent to enema, X-ray, or a brand spanking new Deluxe ET Probe.

The only way something is going in my exit....they would have to do it postmortem.

reply to post by sdcigarpig


I'm not defending the cops. I'm saying we only have one side of the story. He will present his side of the story in the courts and will, if he deserves it, will get some compensation, and hopefully, retribution.

I want you to understand where I'm coming from so here's a story for you:
A man leaves the ER and tells all his friends that he lay on a stretcher for 13 hours with a broken arm and no one would give him anything for pain and they didn't even put him out before they set it in a cast. Horrible story, no?
Here's the other side:
Drunk man high on drugs gets dumped at ER doors by friends with a broken arm and severe laceration to his head sustained in a fall. Because of the big gash in his head, doctor worried about an injury to his brain or bleed in his skull. Because the guy is drunk and stoned, it's impossible to do a neurological assessment so they try to do a CAT scan but the guy refuses to cooperate so they can't. They have to wait it out and let him come down from his high and sober up so they can check for a brain injury and will just do regular neurological assessments. It's a head injury protocol that they absolutely have to follow. They have to give him a local anesthetic in his arm before they set it in a cast. They can't give him anything stronger because he won't cooperate and tell them how much he drank or what and how many drugs he did. Next morning, guy checks out ok and he's sent on his way with an appointment to follow up with an orthopedic surgeon. No narcotics were prescribed because of his drug habit.
Now, that may or may not be a true story. The point is the same. One story, two different sides.

OpinionatedB
reply to post by Helious

 

I am still very sick to my stomach. Blanket warrants are illegal yet they just did one on a man's ass. When you wake up or see this response, tell me what I can do also.

This is New Mexico, which is not a state I live in. But this is seriously the most outrageous thing I have ever heard of happening in the United States.

So, who do we call and who do we write to?

Here is what you do, you bother the hell out of the AG of the state of New Mexico through emails, phone calls and handwritten letters. The same thing I spent three hours today doing and what I will continue to do for as long as it takes until I see arrests.

You create buzz for the topic on every website, forum and post you can find that is discussing this topic. You create as much public outrage as you can as loudly as you can to let these criminals know, they are not going to get away with it. Before you think you don't matter, try being the biggest pain in the ass in the world about something important that is just and worth fighting for and imagine 100 million other people doing the same as you.

I didn't bother with the sheriff's office as it's obvious from the facts of the case, the elected sheriff of the offending county is probably an enabler. The AGs office is the way to go and if enough pressure is applied, state lawmakers on congressional levels may even get involved.

meemaw
reply to post by RalagaNarHallas

 

The man in the story will have his day in court, and all the details of the case will come to light and justice, which ever way the pendulum sways, will be served.

There are bad cops, bad cashiers, bad grocers, bad construction workers...you name the profession and there are people who shouldn't be in it. I'm all for staying informed and bringing to light those incidents that some people in power would want to keep hidden in the dark but there is no way that I can support the, sometimes hysterical, responses to this story that I've been reading here. There are far more frightening and threatening things going on in the world and some guy who gets his butt probed doesn't take top billing with me. I won't apologize I choose not to stand aside some of the posters here and lynch all police and enforcement officers for the acts of a few bad ones. If that's the position you want to take, then can all ATSers be judged as illiterates or intellectually challenged because of the few who appear to be so?

Seriously? There are a LOT of things going on in this world but this is going on in our back yard.

What on earth can be more frightening than our police, doctors and judges doing whatever they want to /and inside your body, whenever they so feel like it, for any reason they choose or no reason at all?

I don't care about wars overseas so much as I care what is happening to those who live here, in this country.

As a matter of fact... how many incidents do you know of where something like this has happened ANYWHERE in the entire world? Numbers please... because this makes 3 (that I know of) for inside this one!

In my opinion, and in my country, that is 3 too many!

reply to post by Helious


Thank you for the advice on where to send the letters... This is too important to stand still. I am going to be raising bloody hell over this!

reply to post by meemaw


You know, most of us here realize that there is always two sides to a story. ATS does have some brilliant minds within it.... however...

you tell me one thing which justifies a blanket warrant to the insides of a mans ass... for hours... multiple, MULTIPLE times... for God's sake they did surgery when they couldn't find anything!!!

I don't care if he is a known drug runner..... NOTHING justifies what was done to this man!!! NOTHING!!

OpinionatedB
reply to post by Helious

 

Thank you for the advice on where to send the letters... This is too important to stand still. I am going to be raising bloody hell over this!

You can also contact the state representatives of that district, it's an excellent choice and may prove to be very worthwhile. The rep for that particular district is not a congressman but that doesn't mean he doesn't need to be aware of this sort of activity in his district. I'd give you the the contact info but I believe it to be against the T&C of ATS.

meemaw
reply to post by RalagaNarHallas

 

There are bad cops, bad cashiers, bad grocers, bad construction workers...you name the profession and there are people who shouldn't be in it.

you ever been arrested or had you asshole violated by a cashier, grocer, or construction worker..those people you listed do not remotle have any power over you..leo's do..different standard

reply to post by Helious


Not a problem Helious, I am quite proficient with Google! Thank you sir!