What About the Fourth Amendment?

David Eckert was stopped by police for a minor traffic violation.  Police didn't just issue Mr. Eckert a citation, but went on a witch hunt for drugs.  What Mr. Eckert was forced to endure as a result of their misguided suspicion is unbelievable.

Mr. Eckert was not only X-Rayed upon baseless suspicion that he'd hidden drugs in his anal cavity, but he was also subject to the most thorough cavity search I've ever heard of.  This case is just another example of law enforcement treating the penal code like a Bible, but the Constitution like toilet paper.

Upon police direction, doctors reached into Mr. Eckert's anus several times, gave him three enemas, searched his stool and even put him under to perform a colonoscopy. 

After hours of searching, there were no drugs found; calling into question the integrity of the officers who applied for the warrant and the magistrate who signed it.  If there had been some drugs recovered, a criminal defense attorney could file a motion to suppress the evidence, but the worse part is that this happened to an innocent man.  He might have recourse via a civil lawsuit, but there's a good chance that this case will never end up in any kind of court.  Officers were so eager to find drugs that they were willing to go to these extreme measures.  It is a perfect illustration of how flawed our criminal justice system really is.  As a criminal defense attorney, I proudly get to fight against that system every day and fight for my clients to get the rights guaranteed to them under the US Constitution.

With the Fourth Amendment guaranteeing our right to be free from unreasonable searches, I am having a hard time finding any way to define this search as reasonable.  Mr. Eckert's innocence certainly makes this case all that much more disturbing, but is this how our government should treat ANY citizen?  Is suspicion of drug possession really worth such an intimate intrusion?  Every signer of the Constitution would have second thoughts if they could have foreseen what the officers in this case did.


The War on Drugs has been a complete failure, but it actually causes more severe harm to innocent people than the crime it is meant to eradicate.  If you have been subject to what you believe might be an unlawful search, call our office for a free consultation with a Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney.

IMPORTANT LINKS:
LA Sheriff's Inmate Locator 
Los Angeles Superior Court  
Los Angeles Police Department
Los Angeles Felony Bail Schedule
Los Angeles Misdemeanor Bail Schedule 

Nicholas M. Loncar, Esq. 
Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney
t: 213-375-3775 | f: 213-375-3099
Mobile: 323-803-4352 
[email protected]
1200 Wilshire Blvd | Suite 406
Los Angeles, CA | 90017
www.iDefendLosAngeles.com

By Nicholas Loncar

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