
Innocent New York man billed $4,600 for police rectal probe - pseudolus
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46637634
======
balls187
> Police officer Anthony Fiorini said Mr Jackson's posture in the car was
> consistent with someone hiding drugs in his rectum.

What does that even mean? This should be the biggest red flag.

Our justice system is such a joke.

EDIT TO ADD:

That such a bullshit statement like the police officer made as justifiable
reason to go through with violating his constitutional rights, and that now
the victim needs to go through a lengthy (expensive) legal process for justice
is my reasoning for saying our justice system is a joke.

Meanwhile there is another HN thread about package thieves and the amount of
comments about how the police are TOO busy to solve those crimes.

Maybe stop with the dubious drug searches (Cocaine residue, really?) and take
care of the real criminals.

~~~
berbec
This sounds like "parallel construction":

"cops devise a second, more conventional way to obtain the information, and
put that reverse-engineered method down on paper. The result is that law
enforcement lies about the origins of its investigative method" [1]

They didn't like him, he had a record, they want to make an example of him.

1: [https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/12/and-after-what-we-
lear...](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/12/and-after-what-we-learned-
about-hemisphere-program-after-suing-dea)

------
pseudolus
It's a story that bears a parallel to what happened to a man in New Mexico a
few years ago that resulted in multiple lawsuits against the police, a
hospital and several physicians. [0] Ultimately the New Mexico case resulted
in a damages award in the amount of 1.6 million dollars. [1]

[0] [https://blogs.findlaw.com/injured/2013/11/nm-man-sues-
over-m...](https://blogs.findlaw.com/injured/2013/11/nm-man-sues-over-
multiple-anal-cavity-searches.html)

[1] [https://www.cnn.com/2014/01/16/justice/new-mexico-search-
set...](https://www.cnn.com/2014/01/16/justice/new-mexico-search-
settlement/index.html)

------
mindslight
> _He refused to pay, and the matter was ultimately dropped._

A description of the ultimate disposition is what's missing from most of these
"huge bill" stories. I'm glad to see it was stated here that he straight up
refused to pay, as he should have. And really this should be standard advice
repeated in all of these healthcare-cost articles, perhaps along side
references to form letters people can send to repudiate fraudulent charges.
Barring an actual contract to render services, a hospital's position is the
same as a busker playing an instrument at a subway stop!

But what really needs to start happening is for these hospitals to start being
prosecuted for (attempted) fraud. You shouldn't be able to send fake bills to
people in bad faith, and when you're called out just back off and have
everything be fine.

~~~
jpatokal
You can refuse to pay, but they can still send the bill to collections and
wreck your credit.

Also, the hospital did actually perform work here, the crazy part is that
they're billing the innocent suspect instead of the police here.

~~~
mindslight
But the hospital has no contract whatsoever with the suspect. All work was
performed at the behest of the police. I can't just send you a bill for
replying to your comment (saying it was done "for you") and have you be
obligated to pay it!

It seems like a collections agency that keeps pushing an invalid debt is part
of a conspiracy to commit fraud. And a report to the surveillance bureaus that
"wrecks your credit" would be straightforward slander.

Most of the behavior here is best described by some very basic crimes. Why are
we letting these organizations off the hook?

~~~
lovich
They're richer than regular people and can use that money to influence the
laws that are made and influence prosecutors from going after them.

It's a glib response, but is there any other explanation that fits the
observable data? If a random citizen performed the same actions against these
organizations, does anyone here believe the citizen would get away with no
issues?

------
newhacker2719
We need to see more prosecutions of law enforcement community officers and job
related civilians. How often do uniformed officers face grand jury scrutiny
for lies told on the stand?

------
wowzap
I went to Syracuse University and the police force there are a joke. They're
your average overpaid, overworked hillbillies who will smoke a cigar in your
face while issuing you a ticket and send everything less than a SWAT team to
break up a house party.

------
chrismcb
How did they manage to get a court order? Nothing was found in the illegal
xrat, and the judge still went ahead and issues a court order?

------
intralizee
How is $4,600 justified for a rectal probe. United States has zero compassion
for its citizens if it allows medical bills to exceed reasonable financial
means of the average citizen. The average citizen only has so much in a
lifetime for emergency funds. No rectal probe should take such a portion away.

------
rwz
I don't understand how it's even possible to bill the person for this
procedure and not the police.

------
chrisbennet
How was he innocent when they found cocaine in his car? Edit: I guess it
wasn’t a bag.

 _“Officers found a bag of marijuana and cocaine residue in Mr Jackson 's
vehicle, reports the Post-Standard.”_

~~~
teachrdan
According to the article, it was cocaine "residue." And based on the rest of
the officers' dubious claims (The victim bragged about having concealed drugs?
Really?), how much do you want to bet the cops saw some dust on the interior
and claimed it was cocaine residue to justify this arrest and search?

~~~
CompanionCuuube
And if that residue tests positive for cocaine?

~~~
cbanek
Just like the money in your wallet?

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contaminated_currency](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contaminated_currency)

