Pubdate: Tue, 30 Dec 2003
Source: Washington Times (DC)
Copyright: 2003 News World Communications, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.washingtontimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/492
Author: Associated Press

STRIP-SEARCH RULED ILLEGAL IN DRUG ARREST

ANNAPOLIS (AP) -- The Court of Special Appeals has reversed the drug
conviction of Chris Nieves, ruling that police obtained evidence
during an unconstitutional strip-search of the Washington County man.

Mr. Nieves had been sentenced to 10 years in prison after bags of
crack cocaine were found in his rectum.

A unanimous ruling last week by a three-judge panel said any search is
an invasion of an individual's privacy, "but a strip search procedure
flies in the face of individual privacy rights. Strip searches,
moreover, particularly intrude upon the individual's sanctity of his
own body."

Comparing strip-searches to "a pebble in the shoe of the judiciary,"
the opinion by Judge Raymond Thieme said courts everywhere have
struggled with the issue of what justifies the "extreme intrusiveness"
of a strip-search.

Hagerstown police officers stopped Mr. Nieves on Jan. 22, 2002, after
the Toyota truck he was driving rolled back at an intersection and hit
a police car. Officers determined he didn't have a valid driver's
license and that the truck he was driving didn't belong to him.

A decision to conduct a strip-search was made based on two previous
drug-related arrests. During the search, officers found two small
plastic bags, each containing smaller individually wrapped bags of
crack cocaine, concealed in Mr. Nieves' rectum.

The appeals court said the strip-search of Mr. Nieves, whom it
described as "a minor offender who was not inherently dangerous," was
based on police knowledge of his drug history and the fact that he was
driving a vehicle owned by a woman suspected of narcotics dealing.

"Neither factor alone nor the combination of the two supports the
conclusion that a reasonable suspicion was present to justify the
strip search," the court said.

"Where is the reasonable suspicion that drugs or other contraband are
concealed in the particular place they decided to search? There is
none," the opinion said.

Judge Thieme said the judges were "troubled by the fact that, any time
an individual has a prior drug history, that history alone may be used
to justify a strip search of the individual upon subsequent arrests
for minor offenses."

"Officers on nothing more than a 'fishing expedition' for narcotics
without an articulable suspicion whatsoever will essentially be given
carte blanche to violate an individual's privacy when arrested for a
minor offense," the opinion said. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake