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Wisconsin allows laxatives for police searches

yawarakaiyawarakai Member Posts: 2,688 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited May 2006 in General Discussion
AP) MADISON, Wis. Police officers who forced a drug suspect to drink a laxative in hopes of recovering a swallowed bag of heroin were within their rights, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

Reversing an appeals court decision, the high court said police had a clear expectation that the laxative would help reveal evidence of a crime.

The laxative also may have reduced any danger to Tomas Payano-Roman if the bag had ruptured in his body, the decision said.

Payano-Roman's attorney, Tim Provis, called the decision a defeat for civil rights and said he was considering a federal appeal.

"The average person walking the streets of Milwaukee -- they'd say, 'Gee, cops shouldn't be able to do that.' Now the Supreme Court says go right ahead," Provis said.

In 2002, a Milwaukee County sheriff's deputy who was on a drug stakeout approached Payano-Roman and saw him swallow what looked like a plastic bag, according to court documents.

After Payano-Roman was arrested, medical workers decided he should take a laxative, and an officer gave him six doses. The next day, officers retrieved the plastic bag, and Payano-Roman was convicted of heroin possession, the records say.

A state appeals court ruled the laxative amounted to an unreasonable search under the Fourth Amendment, but the high court disagreed.

In a dissent, Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson noted that six hours passed between the arrest and administration of the laxative and questioned why officers didn't get a search warrant.

Comments

  • TxsTxs Member Posts: 17,809 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by yawarakai
    Police officers who forced a drug suspect to drink a laxative in hopes of recovering a swallowed bag of heroin

    After Payano-Roman was arrested, medical workers decided he should take a laxative...

    Aren't these two statements a bit contradictory? If you read closely, you'll also see the headline makes a statement that isn't contained in the court's ruling.

    The guy was witnessed swallowing an unknown quantity of suspected drugs, therefore he was taken to a hospital for medical treatment. Medical professionals then ordered that a laxative be administered due to their determination that the patient's life was in jeopardy. Like it or not, medical procedures are allowed to be conducted against a patient's wishes if they're done to preserve life.

    The LEO's expected that this procedure would reveal contraband and simply conducted a search of the contents of his bedpan.

    The evidence came to light, so to speak, through use of a laxative, but the State Supreme Court acknowledged this wasn't it's actual purpose.
  • oldgunneroldgunner Member Posts: 2,466 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Dang, ya think it might help me find that wedding ring I lost in 1995??
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