Man sedated during search gets $125,000

[NeoConsSuck]

Source: TimesUnion.com

ALBANY -- A man who was forcibly sedated so his body could be searched for drugs that were never found will receive $125,000 under an out-of-court settlement reached recently with Albany County and Albany Medical Center Hospital.

The settlement stems from a federal lawsuit filed two years ago by Tunde Clement, an ex-convict arrested by sheriff's investigators on March 13, 2006, at the Albany bus terminal.

Clement, 35, who police claim had an outstanding warrant for failing to appear in court in a neighboring city, was handcuffed and taken to a police station where he was strip-searched. No contraband was found, so Clement was taken to Albany Med, where doctors forcibly sedated him with powerful drugs against his will.

<snip>
While Clement was under sedation, a camera was inserted in his rectum, he was forced to vomit and his blood and urine were tested for drugs and alcohol. Scans of his digestive system were performed using X-ray machines, according to hospital records obtained by the Times Union.

Clement spent more than 10 hours in custody before being released on an appearance ticket for resisting arrest -- a charge that was later thrown out by an Albany City Court judge.



Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=821158

---

Land of the Brave, Land of the Free. I want my money back.

[WillParkinson]

1. And that's bad, right?

I mean our current Supreme Court obviously will not see any issue with this, I'm sure.

:sarcasm:

[Believing Is Art]

4. Well, they thought it was okay to strip search

a female student for ibuprofen, so probably not.

On edit: okay, only one did and that's bad enough. I need sleep.

[jody]

16. Why do you use irrefutable facts? ROFL n/t

[sfwriter]

80. It's only bad if he is from here...

It's OK if he is foreign.

[Amos Moses]

2. Clement received a $6,792 bill from Albany Med ...

...for the procedures. Hospital records indicate the final diagnosis as "hemorrhoids."

As if that ordeal wasn't infuriating enough. I wouldn't have been able to handle it.:grr:

[nilram]

63. I thought you were joking, but you're right. Jeeze.

At 125,000 they got off cheap.

[surrealAmerican]

64. They BILLED him for it?

Unbelievable.

Oh, and welcome to DU.

[Amos Moses]

66. I never knew rape kits cost that much.

That's basically what they did to him.:grr:

Thanks for the nice "welcome". :hi:

[No Elephants]

3. Most intrusive search I've heard of.

[FormerOstrich]

5. Can I just tell you that I find this...

frightening, disgusting, and wish to hell that we were speaking of some other country.

wft..??? I don't know what it is going to take for the citizens of this country to say enough is enough.....particularly when it comes to the "war on drugs" and how anything goes.

shudder the thought that this could happen to any US citizen in the US for any reason

[tomm2thumbs]

6. only 125k?? Not much punishment - I'd say that is $5 million easy

Who was his lawyer anyway??

[Uben]

9. That mentality is just wrong

I think $125K is more than ample for his discomfort and mistreatment. To think it is worth $5 mil is ridiculous. You don't get set up for life off the American people because some asshole oversteps his authority and you have to go through a little shit. There are people who have been wrongly imprisoned for 30 yrs who didn't get as much as this guy did. I would gladly go through what he did for $125K. Hell, I do it every five years when I get a colonoscopy and they charge me thousands of dollars!

I think the guy who ordered the procedure should get serious jail time and have to pay restituion of $125K to the municipality he worked for. And if he has any money, should be sued personally by the defendant.

[sendero]

10. How about..

.... 125K and the fuckers who decided this was ok LOSE THEIR JOBS? I could live with that.

[Uben]

13. Me too....

....in fact, they need to do a little jail time themselves, and maybe they will understand what it's like to lose their liberties.

[noamnety]

33. Not just lose their jobs - lose their medical license. (nt)

[Kolesar]

72. "Spoke to Shirley of Risk Management," a physician wrote, ...

...documenting the medical decision-making that day. "OK to treat, sedate & remove FOB (foreign object body) against (patient's) will despite his personal refusal."

[Doremus]

17. How nice of you to offer to submit to torture for a measly $125k

But seeing as how YOU weren't the person subjected to what amounts to torture *against your will*, you don't get to decide what's "ample."

$125K is not sufficient to punish the people responsible OR to act as a deterrent in the future.

[Uben]

20. If you wish to sue the individual responsible......

...have at it. It wasn't torture, I've had the procedure done three times. Don't act like you are some kind of authority on the subject, you're not. I didn't decide, a jury did, and I agreed with their decision. You don't get set up for life for experiencing some discomfort. I'm all for the guy suing the individual for anything he wants. Of course, he probably doesn't have anything, but if he happened to be a bazillionaire, go for it all! This ghetto mentality of suing the government for millions of dollars because some rogue cop doesn't follow procedure shows just how sorry some people in this nation have gotten. The taxpayers cannot be held liable for someone who does not follow procedure, and you do understand that the money comes from tax payers, don't you? Everyone has an opinion, and it seems a lot of them would like to get rich off the American taxpayer rather than get a fucking job and earn an honest living!
I think the jury made a very reasonable assessment and imposed a reasonable judgement. You're free to feel otherwise, just as I am free to agree with their decision. There is no doubt what the guy did was abhorrent, but it wasn't torture. I've even had it done with out being sedated.

[mudplanet]

25. It wasn't torture?

Isn't that a lot like saying "It wasn't rape. I've been laid before and it was painless"? Oh, wait, maybe if you drug someone before you rape them it's OK.

If you suspect someone is secreting something illegal in their rectum, wouldn't the correct thing to do be to confine them in a room with a bucket and wait 12 hours?

If, the next time I have to fly somewhere, the guards decide they want to do a cavity search on me and I can't opt out by leaving, I'm going to consider it rape, a form of torture. And if you don't think having someone's fingers rammed up your butt against your will is torture, you're either seriously stupid or sadistic (in which case you do consider it torture but that's why you like it).

While I might expect this kind of behavior from some police officers, as a health care professional it's shocking to me the hospital personnel (and I assume a licensed doctor) cooperated. They should be put on suspension or have their licenses revoked.

Just because a police officer said to do it doesn't make it OK. I was only following orders doesn't cut it.

[Uben]

31. You've got an opinion

..and that's all it is. I have mine. I've been through it several times.....it isn't torture. Would I want it done without consent? No. I'm saying you go after the idiot that made that decision, not the taxpayer. The taxpayer gets raped enough without these people trying to set themselves up for life because some redneck cop goes against the law. I do agree with your assessment of the doctor who preformed the procedure. He could have denied it, and I have no problem with the guy going after his money, either.
I'm not saying the guy shouldn't sue the officer in charge or the doctor, go for it! Just don't expect to retire on the taxpayers!

[mudplanet]

59. No one is arguing a colonoscopy is painful, but a colonoscopy without

consent is just like rape - it's the ultimate violation of one's privacy.

As to the public paying for punitive damages, it's regrettable that, in so many cases, the only thing people understand is money. The only way that the moral midgets that are in charge of making policy for the police will be compelled to change their behavior is to hit them in the pocketbook, whether it's their money or the budget of the city. Since they can't understand the difference between right and wrong (also a matter of opinion, but I'd argue that my opinion that having your body cavity searched without your consent for stupid reasons will, by consensus, be held as a wrong action) they have to have some more concrete disincentive.

As to people retiring on the public teat - I'd argue that a better arrangement for all punitive damage awards would be for them to go into some pool for medical research instead of the injured party, which is compensated for pain a suffering already.

But hey, that's just my opinion. I'd also argue that incarcerating people in institutions where is probability of being raped is so high that it has become an open public joke that to be imprisoned is to be sentenced to being anally raped constitutes cruel and unusual punishment and, as such, is unconstitutional (and is therefore a violation of one's constitutional rights and that those folks that promulgate this situation should be subjected to criminal and civil penalties).

But those are just my opinions. Just like it's only my opinion that tying someone to a board and near drowning them constitutes torture, and that shooting someone because they offend you, or that beating your wife when she won't shut up are all wrong things to do. But I guess I'm just opinionated.

[booley]

75. The x-ray is more worrisome to me

X-rays are accumalative over a person's lifetime.

Basically they forced this guy to be exposed to dangerous radiation when there was neither need nor consent.

[Tempest]

26. You've never been through what he was forced to endure

Are you saying you've been heavily sedated AGAINST your will, FORCED to vomit and had a scan through your ass WITHOUT your consent?

Rightttt...

[Uben]

32. You don't know what I've been through ....

...so your entire post is irrelevent.

[NickB79]

76. Well then, tell us what you have been through.

WERE you handcuffed, sedated against your will, and anally probed?

[hootinholler]

28. Ann? Is that you?

5 mil is not nearly enough punishment. There should never be a rogue cop, htey should be drummed out of the policing bidiss by other cops long before crap like this happens. Yes, I understand that this is paid from taxes. That is irrelevant to the case.

I suggest you stop channeling Ann Rand's bullshit with your own racist twist.

-Hoot

[SkyDaddy7]

35. The ONLY way to wake up the public...

Is for a major lawsuit to hit home...5 million would do it and this would never happen again! 125K says it will eventually happen again. On top of that no one lost their job which is typical in these types of law enforcement abuses...So, no one, no agancy, and the tax payers (the voters) have not learned anythng in this process.

Of course this my opinion and I know you strongly disagree...I would just ask how it is you would go about waking up the public that seems to fall for "fighting crime" rather than "reforming the system"?

[Uben]

40. Don't get me wrong......

....I would like nothing better than to see that bastard fired, fined, and sued for everything HE has. The article does not address whether or not the offending investigators were fired or what disciplinary actions were taken, but they are currently being sued by the plaintiff, and I hope he gets everything they've got! He also has a suit against the doctors involved. The agreement reached was between the plaintiff, the hospital and the sheriff's dept. He has every right to go after the individuals involved as I believe they acted with reckless abandon. I think some of the folks who jumped on my response failed to understand what I was saying. It's not that I don't believe he should sue the individuals involved.
The definition of torture is "the act of inflicting excruciating pain, as punishment or revenge, as a means of getting a confession or information, or for sheer cruelty." This was not excruciating pain, nor do I believe it was for punishment or out of sheer cruelty, there fore I stand by my statement it was not torture. A violation of civil rights? Certainly. And he received $150K for that violation.
I hope that clears up why I made the statement I did. If not, I'm not arguing the point any longer.

[Doremus]

67. How convenient you don't want to argue the point any longer.

I'll still expect an explanation for this particularly offensive choice of words:

This ghetto mentality of suing the government for millions of dollars (bolding mine)

[SkyDaddy7]

71. I understand and agree with you, I think...

I can see your point on the torture thing to point...But this was a form of rape which could have some psychological ramifications. However, I do agree with you that it was a def a violation of civil rights. I guess I would just like to see a sheriff dept. or local police dept lose a chunk of their operating budget for acting like the Iraina Basiji and this would wake the local public up to the fact they can no longer choose to look the other way.

I understand what you are saying and thank you for being civil and talking to me.

[bobshin]

36. You're right about one point, it's not the taxpayers who should be footing the

bill. It should be the person(s) responsible or his (their) boss who directed it. However, if there's no significant punishment for such an action then it would make it "worth" it to risk the penalty and continue such torture in the future. It was torture as it was done without consent and under the trusted authority of our lawkeepers. I understand you to say it's okay for a rogue cop- who is hired and trained by government authority- to make such decisions without anymore than his own personal liability at stake? Then why bother having a police force and just hire independent contractors as cops? That would save the taxpayers a fortune in benefits and training costs- and would end these outrageous lawsuits.

[harmonicon]

52. the buck stops where?

Who is the boss? As a government employee, the tax paying citizens are the boss, unfortunately for them. None of the people responsible for this should have ever been hired, but since they were, there are higher-ups in the chain of command who are also responsible for their actions.

[Papa Boule]

43. "It wasn't torture"? It certainly meets the definition of rape, whether it hurt or not.

It was a horrific and sick abuse of power. Period.

Whether it was penetration by a medical probe or a broomstick, or whether it hurt or not, or whether beatings or medications were used to overcome a person's defenses is just arguing details for distraction's sake.

And the system and individuals involved should be subject to severe penalties. Not so the victim gets a payday, but so that the message is loud and clear and the precedent is reinforced -- this is not acceptable behavior by anyone with advantage or authority. The penalty has to be high enough not only to be punitive but to be an effective deterrent. So that anyone asked to participate in such a thing will think twice and refuse.

And the penalty should be high enough to send a message that individuals and their rights are valuable.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

44. I suppose phrases like...

"Under color of authority" means little in regard to your remarks. Point being: perhaps if we had MORE lawsuits, not less, by those who have had their rights abrogated in such a wanton manner, civil society might start reviewing where we have gone so wrong and make the needed changes.

Pardon me for putting so fine a point on the little details.

[uppityperson]

46. Seriously? You have been forcibly sedated and cavity searched 3 times?

That is wild, where has that happened (state, city, etc)?

[harmonicon]

50. there was no jury - it was a settlement

As for having had it done yourself, you haven't. Have you been plucked from the street without warning, accused of something you haven't done, been kidnapped, drugged, not knowing if you'll live or die at the hands of your captors, and had medical procedures performed on you without your consent. You've had that happen?

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

69. point of order, (or something...)

Read the article. Read the OP at least. This was settled OUT OF COURT. That means there was NO JURY. He likely just wanted it over, and to get on with his life. A Good Lawyer would likely have netted him much more money. IMO

[Umbral]

34. Wrong, $125 thousand isn't enough to ensure this doesn't happen again. nt

[LiberalAndProud]

49. I think he and the sherriff's investigators should be fined

heavily.
Especially in light of the recent fine assessed against the hiker to pay for the cost of his rescue.

[Sewsojm]

58. He should have got at least 1 million,

They got off dirt cheap, imagine if this had happened to a wealthy Repuke, he/she would have gotten 10 million!!

[midnight]

78. I disagree. I think the higher these awards go, the quicker the

learner curve will follow.

[peacetalksforall]

7. Horrendous. Now, what are the people going to do? Does the law say it can

be done to anyone? or any one on probation? State law?

[nightrain]

8. not nearly enough compensation for the outrageous actions

[Locrian]

15. agree

It should be based on a penalty that will PREVENT this from happening again. 125K is probably not enough (plus no other "personal" consequences like getting fired) for this to happen again and again.

[rasputin1952]

11. Other than he had a warrant for FTA, what was the justification

for such an intrusive search?

Arrest him on the warrant, but to be submitted to such procedures is quite literally torture.

[DFW]

12. After paying the guy his $125,000

The "law enforecment" official who ordered the forced sedation and the medical procedures needs to pay
the clinic that performed the procedures out of his own pocket, and then pack his bags for about a year
in the worst county jail they can find for assault and battery as well as kidnapping.

[Bette Noir]

14. Yeah, I think that'd meet the constitutional test for "unreasonable search."

[47of74]

18. I wouldn't have accepted $125k

I would've made them pay a hell of a lot more money. $125,000 is pocket change to governments and hospitals, even in this economy. Something like $125 million dollars might make them stop and realize that the laws and Constitution of this nation have a purpose and that those who disregard them will be held to account for their actions.

[BumRushDaShow]

19. $125K and the lawyers will get 1/3rd. n/t

[liberalhistorian]

21. Yeah, 'cause they did absolutely NO work at all on

the case, right? 'Cause they don't have any office overhead/expenses and they don't need a roof over their head or to eat, right?

People have NO fucking clue how much work goes into even seemingly simple legal cases or how much expenses are involved in case preparation, expenses that MUST be paid out of their own pocket before they ever get a dime.

[BumRushDaShow]

29. Wow. Way to twist around my statement.

How about considering that my post illustrates the fact that despite this egregious violation of the 4th amendment, a $125K "settlement" does little to impose strong enough punitive damages, nor includes enough compensatory damages to take care of the time and effort executing the case and compensating the victim.

Step down off your high horse.

[liberalhistorian]

39. Then maybe you should have been a bit more

clear about that, instead of backpedaling after the fact.

As a paralegal for fifteen years, I KNOW the kind of work that goes into even the seemingly "simple" cases, let alone cases such as this. I know that they often have to advance thousands, if not tens of thousands, of dollars in fees and expenses during case preparations, before they ever receive a dime. I know the kind of overhead and expenses of legal offices, even small and solo ones, and I've worked for people who've put in a helluva lot more work than they ever charged for. I've seen attorneys go broke trying to assist people either for free or only charging what people could afford, only to turn around and constantly hear this kind of shit about "greedy attorneys" and how much they "take" from settlements and it's getting mighty goddamned old.

[BumRushDaShow]

60. Backpedaling?

Where did that come from? There is nothing in my one sentence about any "greedy" lawyers. :shrug:

Being a "paralegal" for any x number of years is irrelevant. It is basically a fact that when you have these sorts of settlements, that outside of the retainer that you neglect to mention that many ask for, lawyers DO do the base work with the expectation/hope of getting paid eventually and that generally comes out to 1/3rd. Been there done that.

And for this case, $125K is sadly a pittance and there may be more behind the settling than is established in the article. But take note that all lawyers aren't pure angels either and often people are so fed up with them that they push to settle just to end the madness. Been there, done that.

Again, off that high horse and chill out.

[liberalhistorian]

61. Whatever. I guess working in the field for fifteen years

counts for nothing. And, FYI, the vast majority of attorneys who take these kinds of cases do so on a contingency fee basis, meaning they do NOT take retainers but ONLY get payment from the settlement, period. That is why they advance what often amounts to tens of thousands of dollars in witness, court and preparation fees during the preparation of the case. And believe me, there's a helluva lot of work involved, it is NOT easy at all.

And for those kinds of cases where retainers are normally accepted, the client receives the remainder after the case is over.

[1monster]

38. On second thought, nevermind.

[Eric J in MN]

22. What the hell kind of ethics do those doctors have?

Sedating a person who doesn't need or want medical treatment against his will.

[unblock]

23. forcing vomiting is even worse, imho

but it's all dangerous and medically inexcusable.

[liberalhistorian]

41. The same kind of "doctors' who went along with the torture

at Gitmo and American prisons in Iraq, that's who. And then the hospital had the nerve to actually send a bill? I'd shove it up their asses, and then present it to the sheriff's office.

[mbperrin]

24. Sheriff's investigators did not obtain a search warrant for the procedure, and hospital officials

did not require them to produce one. Police and hospital officials considered the matter a "medical emergency."

<snip>
"Spoke to Shirley of Risk Management," a physician wrote, documenting the medical decision-making that day. "OK to treat, sedate & remove FOB (foreign object body) against (patient's) will despite his personal refusal."

Excellent news! Hospital administrators named Shirley have the power to contravene the Constitution!

Scratch Albany off any possible travel route in future.

Good gawd! I'm from west Texas, where sheriff's deputies sometimes brand a prisoner or beat one to death in a padded cell, but the HOSPITAL here is good!

If I'm shocked (and I am!) everybody else here should be livid!

Can only wish Shirley the best of luck when she's admitted sometime somewhere for a procedure and someone from Risk Management has to make a call on her...

[liberalhistorian]

42. Sounds like "Shirley" didn't know the "risk management"

very well and should be joining an unemployment line pretty soon. Hopefully, with no eligibility for any type of unemployment benefits whatsoever. They had NO legal right to perform such procedures without requiring a warrant first, period. It's really scary that hospitals and doctors in this country would do such a thing.

[KansDem]

27. Well, it could have been worse. The cops could have just broken his neck....

Raw Story

A 42-year-old Louisiana man has died, apparently of a broken neck, after being pulled over by a police deputy.

A dash cam video shows Deputy Chris Sturdivant of the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office with his arms around Adam Stogner’s neck after the officer suspected the man of putting a small quantity of drugs into his mouth.

Stogner died along Interstate 12. Preliminary results from the coroner show that Stogner died from “severe coronary artery disease, an enlarged heart, and a fracture of the hyoid bone in his neck.”

[Blue_Tires]

45. jesus fuckin' christ!

[Flaneur]

55. Gotta love those coroner reports!

"severe coronary artery disease, an enlarged heart, and a fracture of the hyoid bone in his neck,” oh, AND BEING CHOKED TO DEATH BY A COP!!!!

Reminds me of all those people who get tasered and die and the coroners call it "excited delirium," oh, AND HE JUST GOT SHOT WITH A FUCKING TASER!!!

[canucksawbones]

57. a fractured hyoid

is diagnostic of strangulation, the cause of death in this case included hyoid fracture, that implies strangulation.

G

[Flaneur]

62. It was the third thing listed.

If a guy dies from being choked to death, why list coronary disease first?

[Gwendolyn]

74. Hyoid fracture doesn't necessarily cause death.

The most common cause of it today is car accidents, from being slammed against the steering wheel. People who don't get x-rayed may not know they have a fractured hyoid unless there are complications later. The dude and this cop were grappling and slamming all over the car and ground, so it might've happened at any time.

[timeforpeace]

30. Going to Disneyland? Nope, gonna buy drugs.

[Odin2005]

37. WTF? how is that legal in anyt shape or form? Those "doctors" need to lose their jobs, too.

:grr:

[Flaneur]

47. Question: Would this have been okay if they had found drugs?

[Lars39]

51. No

[Alenne]

53. No

[Flaneur]

56. No, but I'm afraid it would have been justified by the cops then.

Like when the narcs raid somebody's house and trash the hell out of it. It's never a problem unless the person is totally clean. Otherwise, it's just standard procedure.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

48. To Project and To Sever

F'n armed thugs supervised by totalitarian bureaucrats. Story above about a neck being broken by cops trying to retrieve swallowed contraband. When do we reach our boiling point... the water sure seems warm already (said the frog).

[orbitalman]

54. I think about if it had been me....

I have a heart and blood pressure condition. Just the thought of interaction with medicine or the physical abuse alone causes me great concern. Did these rogues know the man's condition? I'll bet not. Doing this to just anyone without knowledge of their present condition is enough cause to send these assholes to the gas chambers. You can't just go pick someone up and expect a "no problem" result. This is great cause for a major lawsuit. All enforcement should be warned they are liable.

[subcomhd]

65. wouldn't it be funny if he used the settlement money to buy drugs?

[Wednesdays]

68. K&R

:kick:

[Q3JR4]

70. Whether you call it rape or not the fact remains that

he (the man it happened to) SETTLED. OUT. OF. COURT. If it had happened to me I would have sued the hospital, the doctors, the nurse who administered the anesthetic, that one individual who operated the x-ray machine, the person who made the hose, the company that owned the machine that made the metal in the camera, the police force, the individual officers, the city, the person who drove the bus, and anyone else I could think of.

The ultimate decision was up to the man that it (and don't misunderstand me, it WAS rape) happened to and he made the decision to accept the 125k.

Done deal. What are we arguing about?

Q3JR4.
Some people argue just to hear their own voices.

[notesdev]

73. That's just the civil part

if the facts are as stated I don't see how a prosecutor can avoid pressing sexual assault charges of some kind. This differs only in degree from the Diallo situation a few years back in NYC.

[Q3JR4]

77. Even better.

I hope he takes them for every single dollar he can. I would.

Q3JR4.

[AngryAmish]

79. In Chicago in this situation they make the prisoner eat White Castles

That tends to get things moving.

[Umbral]

81. As I stated up thread - Not nearly enough...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/21/strip-searches-pervasive_n_241544.html