4th Amendment- Two Women BODY CAVITY SEARCHED ON ROADSIDE
A Texas State Trooper suspected two women of smoking marijuana in their vehicle, and felt that they may have hidden marijuana on or IN her persons. The woman State Trooper put laytex gloves on and inserted her fingers into the womens anuses and vaginas, in search of marijuana, which was not found. Interestingly enough, one of the womens bottles of prescription pain killers was missing after the search. This was conducted absent PROBABLE CAUSE, as the scent of marijuana in a vehicle is merely REASONABLE SUSPICION to be able to call a police K9, and then if the K9 alerts, to seize the vehicle and apply for a search warrant. This was a complete violation of their 4th amendment rights. I felt like this story was pertinent to members on the board who may sometimes drive with contraband on them (AAS).
http://www.12newsnow.com/story/20393...avity-searches
Trooper suspended after women sue over roadside cavity searches
Posted: Dec 20, 2012 11:03 AM EST Updated: Dec 20, 2012 11:03 AM EST
By NBC News
NBC News
By Frank Heinz and Ken Kalthoff, NBCDFW.com
A Texas state trooper has been suspended with pay, officials said Wednesday, after two women claimed they were subjected to intimate body cavity searches at the roadside in full view of the public.
The two women, from Irving, Texas, are suing two state troopers and the director of the Department of Public Safety, alleging they were violated during what they call an unconstitutional search on State Highway 161 on July 13.
Angel Dobbs and her niece Ashley Dobbs were stopped for littering by Trooper David Farrell.
In a dashcam video released by the women and their attorney, Farrell can be heard telling the women they would both be cited for throwing cigarette butts out of the car.
Farrell called for a female trooper, Kelley Helleson, to come to the scene and began to ask questions about what he described as "an odor of marijuana" coming from the car, according to the video. Angel Dobbs denied smoking marijuana, and said she had borrowed the car.
'Humiliated'
After Helleson arrived, she can be seen in the video putting on blue latex gloves to conduct a search of both women. According to the lawsuit, when Angel Dobbs asked about the gloves, Helleson "told her not to worry about that."
Pulled over for littering, women given body cavity searches
In the lawsuit, Dobbs said the trooper conducted the cavity search on the roadside, illuminated by the police car's headlights, in full view of any passing motorists.
"This has been an eye-opening experience for me. I've never been pulled over, never searched like this. I was totally violated over there a few minutes ago... this is so embarrassing to me," Angel Dobbs said on the video.
"I've never been so humiliated or so violated or felt so molested in my entire life," Angel Dobbs told NBCDFW.com.
More stories from NBCDFW.com
The lawsuit further alleges that Helleson performed the searches on both women without changing the latex gloves between searches.
"I don't think anybody needs to have to feel, or go through what we went through," Ashley Dobbs said. "It crosses my mind every day. It's humiliating," she said.
The Department of Public Safety told NBCDFW.com that Helleson had been suspended with pay.
There had been no other suspensions as of Wednesday night, NBCDFW.com reported.
No narcotics or contraband was found, according to the lawsuit.
DASHCAM VIDEO OF THE INCIDENT IN QUESTION
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6gOkDiUCA0