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David Eckert, who was given three enemas as part of a humiliating search after a routine traffic stop last year, has received a $1.6 million settlement from a county and city in New Mexico.
Lawyers from the city of Deming and Hidalgo County agreed to the settlement earlier this week.
"It was medically unethical and unconstitutional," his lawyer, Shannon Kennedy, told the Associated Press. "He feels relieved that this part is over and believes this litigation might make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else."
Eckert was pulled over for failing to yield at a stop sign last January. When Eckert appeared to be "clutching his buttocks," police called in a K-9 to the scene, despite the fact that the dog's license expired in 2011.
The dog indicated there were drugs in the car and police obtained a warrant for an anal cavity search, despite finding no other evidence of drugs in the car.
The following exams were then performed on Eckert at Gila Regional Medical Center, where Eckert was taken after a first hospital refused to examine him on the grounds that such a search was "unethical."
1. Eckert's abdominal area was x-rayed; no narcotics were found.
2. Doctors then performed an exam of Eckert's anus with their fingers; no narcotics were found.
3. Doctors performed a second exam of Eckert's anus with their fingers; no narcotics were found.
4. Doctors penetrated Eckert's anus to insert an enema. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.
5. Doctors penetrated Eckert's anus to insert an enema a second time. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.
6. Doctors penetrated Eckert's anus to insert an enema a third time. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.
7. Doctors then x-rayed Eckert again; no narcotics were found.
8. Doctors prepared Eckert for surgery, sedated him, and then performed a colonoscopy where a scope with a camera was inserted into Eckert's anus, rectum, colon, and large intestines. No narcotics were found.
Eckert's suit also named Gila Medical Center and the doctors who performed the search there; that portion of the case is still ongoing.
[Image via Shutterstock]