Walt has just been shown the story of what Albuquerque NM attorney Shannon L. Kennedy calls "the most egregious case of law enforcement abuse" she ever saw in eighteen years of practice. She has filed a lawsuit against the police department of Deming NM, plus a district attorney and a number of doctors, on behalf of one David Eckert, a man with a reputation for concealing illegal substances in his, errr, nether orifice.
It was his reputation, according to the report ("NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN") on Albuquerque TV station KOB-TV, that landed Mr. Eckert in a "traffic stop nightmare" -- a considerable understatement as will be seen from the video and newspaper reports of what happened.
The lawsuit alleges that Deming police pulled Mr. Eckert over at a Walmart parking lot for failing to yield at a stop sign. When he stepped out of his vehicle, the cops thought he was "clenching his buttocks". Not thinking that perhaps Eckert had a bad case of the runs, they suspected him of hiding drugs in his anal cavity, so they got a warrant for an internal search.
Acting on the warrant, the police took Mr. Eckert -- buttocks still clenched, presumably -- to a nearby ER, where doctors refused to look into the matter (geddit?), calling it "unethical". Undeterred [Stop it. Ed.] the cops transported him to Gila Regional Medical Center in Silver City.
The doctors there agreed to do the necessary. First, they x-rayed Mr. Eckert. No narcotics were found. Then they performed two rectal examinations, and still found nothing. But did they stop there? Noooo. The docs gave him an enema, and forced him to evacuate in front of them and the boys in blue. Still no result.
Not satisfied, the good doctors gave Mr. Eckert a second enema, then a third, followed by a second x-ray. Still, they found nothing. But the story doesn't end there! Determined to get to the bottom of things [I said stop it!. Ed.], the doctors sedated Mr. Eckert and performed a colonscopy, sticking a camera up his rectum, into his colon and large intestine. No drugs were found, and Mr. Eckert was released, some 12 hours after his arrest.
Said Attorney Kennedy, "You could never anticipate this happening in the USA." I hate to cast aspersions on those whose mission is "to serve and protect", but I find it very easy to anticipate. The police in the USA (and every other police state on earth) do what they like. They may not have the right, but they have the power.
It’s hard to believe that could happen in the USA, or even in Canada. But Walt! You forgot the “Rest of the Story.” The cops, and the hospital had the audacity to charge Mr. Eckert for those medical procedures for which he had to endure.
ReplyDeleteBut still, I have to admire the authorities for acting quickly once they were informed. They condemned the officers immediately, and brought charges. Here in Canada they would try to hide the event, or the "Special Investigations Unit" would say the police “had probable cause!” And huge resources would be spent defending their actions!