i'm just saying.....
City police sued over strip search
Civil suit seeks $210 million
By Tricia Bishop | tricia.bishop@baltsun.com
February 4, 2009
A Baltimore man filed a $210 million civil lawsuit yesterday against the city Police Department, a former commissioner and several officers in connection with a 2006 incident during which he says a band of rogue cops held him at gunpoint in the street, stripped him and searched his rectum in front of about 30 onlookers.

The federal suit is the second filed since March in U.S. District Court in Baltimore alleging "widespread and persistent" civil rights violations by police officers who belonged to an elite "Special Enforcement Team" that worked mainly in the southeastern part of the city.

The SET unit was dismantled and its officers reassigned in 2006 after allegations of misconduct surfaced, leading the city prosecutor's office to dismiss more than 100 Circuit Court cases the officers had investigated in the previous two years.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi declined to comment yesterday on the lawsuits, the employment status of the named officers, the department's procedural regulations regarding rectal examination and the outcome of internal investigations.



"We take all lawsuits very seriously and investigate in the most efficient manner possible," Guglielmi said. Until the department's legal team has thoroughly reviewed the case, he said, he "can't comment specifically" on it or "anything that touches" it.

The physical violation described in yesterday's 43-page complaint is the "ultimate degradation of a person's civil rights," said Steven D. Silverman, the attorney representing plaintiff Daryl A. Martin, a 35-year-old Navy veteran who works as a manager at a retail shop.

According to the complaint, Martin and a friend were on their way to a tailor for a custom suit fitting on a weekday afternoon in April 2006 when their Buick Lucerne was pulled over in the 900 block of Patterson Park Ave. by two sets of officers. A marked police car carrying Officer Antonio Rodriquez and an unidentified officer blocked the Buick in front, while an unmarked car holding Officers Shakil Moss and William Harris blocked the back end, the complaint says.

Rodriquez asked Martin for his license and registration, then ordered both passengers out of the car and began to search the Buick while Moss frisked the plaintiff under gunpoint, the complaint says. Moss then donned a rubber glove and lowered Martin's pants and underwear, according to the document.

"To the Plaintiff's complete and utter horror, in broad daylight and in the presence [of] the gathered crowd, Moss forced a gloved finger into the Plaintiff's rectum," found nothing, then threw the glove to the ground, the court document states. Shortly thereafter, with no explanation, the officers "sped away."

Martin reported the incident to a police internal investigation division, which retrieved the glove and sent it to a lab for examination. DNA from both Moss and Martin was found, according to the complaint.

Martin, who is black, contends that he was targeted because of his race. He says that the officers' behavior was systemic and tolerated by Police Department leadership, including then-Commissioner Leonard D. Hamm and current Deputy Commissioner Deborah Owens, both of whom are also named in the suit.

Silverman said that his office reviewed "scores and scores of prior arrest records" and found numerous "obvious and blatant constitutional violations by this rogue group."

The complaint alleges nearly 50 instances of questionable activity by officers, which frequently included spotting drugs from vast distances, eliciting spontaneous confessions and regular "serendipitous discovery of individuals possessing contraband."

"It's clear the department should have had every obligation to review their prior arrest [records], and if they had done so, would have clearly seen that they were running all over the civil rights of the city of Baltimore," Silverman said.

A similar lawsuit, filed in March by 17 plaintiffs, alleges that officers, including Moss, illegally detained, assaulted, searched, humiliated and generally terrorized residents without justification. In a court filing, Hamm and Owens denied the allegations against them in the earlier suit


Man recounts strip search after filing suit against police
Father of two 'felt like I was raped that day' by city officer
By Tricia Bishop | tricia.bishop@baltsun.com
3:15 PM EST, February 4, 2009
In an interview this morning, Daryl A. Martin recounted the details of the April afternoon in 2006 when, he says, a Baltimore police officer stripped him of his dignity on a city street, performing a baseless cavity search on the football coach and father of two before two dozen onlookers.

"I felt like I was raped that day, like my manhood was gone," Martin said quietly, pausing to collect himself. "I didn't deserve this at all. I don't think anyone deserves what I went through ... I thought they were going to kill me."

Martin, who has never been charged with a crime according to the Maryland court system, yesterday filed a $210 million civil lawsuit against several officers and the Baltimore City Police Department, alleging a pattern of civil rights violations, including falsifying charging documents, racial profiling and illegal searches and seizures.

Baltimore police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi declined to comment on the lawsuit or the allegations until a legal team has had sufficient time to review the court documents.



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City police sued over strip search According to Martin, he was on his way to have a suit made April 26, 2006, when he says several officers pulled his car over for no clear reason and searched his vehicle. One officer, Shakil Moss, frisked Martin through his pants, grabbing his genitals and running his hands along his buttocks, making lewd comments.

"It was horrifying," Martin said.

Moss then stripped Martin below the waist, donning a clear plastic glove and searching Martin's rectum in front of a growing crowd of gawkers. The officers, part of the elite Special Enforcement Team, which has since been disbanded among allegations of professional misconduct, then sped away, chasing after a car playing loud music. Another lawsuit alleging similar infractions by the SET unit was filed last year.

"I think this group of officers randomly pulled over and searched dozens of people a day. If they found something, they altered the statement of charges to make [the search appear] constitutional. If they found nothing, they would send you on your way," said Martin's attorney, Steven D. Silverman.

Martin's experience changed him forever, longtime friend Ryan Byers said.

"He's not the same happy-go-lucky guy he always was," Byers said. "Now he's a little more defensive of everything. He questions how it happened. You ask questions about yourself, even though you've done nothing wrong. He'll never forget it, but he has to learn to deal with it."
[Edited 2/4/09 21:38pm]

[b][Edited 2/4/09 21:39pm]

How does he work out $210 million? $60 million for every inch penetrated? Is that the going rate?

Number23 said:

i wonder if he had fat fingers or long fingers?

it's the thickness that gets you....

Fury said:

He's be the most expensive hooker on Earth charging that for a fingered bumhole. Even if I was raped by a dog in front of my granny I wouldn;t expact any more than £3.50 from its owner. And that's just to cover my travelling expenses.
[Edited 2/4/09 6:38am]

Number23 said:

Fury said:

He's just cuddling in because its cold.

I knew Jack Russells were smart but damn.

I know this is serious but the "widespread and persistant" comment made me giggle.

Hell, I hope he gets ALL his 210 million. Fuck those bitch-ass cops.

Number23 said:

MuthaFunka said:

MuthaFunka said:

MIGUELGOMEZ said:

+ Shortly thereafter, with no explanation, the officers "sped away." pff typical men

"Spread your cheeks and lift your sack!"

MuthaFunka said:

I 100% agree. They raped that man. They should be punished not only because of that, but also because they used their position of power to intimidate.

Sick.

MuthaFunka said:

i agree 100%!!!!!

I think the intent was humiliation, you just don't do that that is below human dignity, which everyone is entitled to.

Hope they catch those idiots.

Give him every penny.
Why do such evil people decide to become cops!?