Spring woman claims constitutional violation in body cavity probe

A Spring woman claims sheriff's deputies violated constitutional protections by conducting a body cavity search on the concrete of a Texaco gas station parking lot during a routine traffic stop in late June.

Charnesia Corley, a 21-year-old African American, was driving in northern Harris County around 10:30 p.m. on June 21 when a male deputy pulled her over for allegedly running a stop sign. He said he smelled marijuana, handcuffed Corley, put her in his vehicle and searched her car for almost an hour. He didn't find any pot, according to her attorney, Sam Cammack.

Returning to his car where Corley was held, the deputy again said he smelled marijuana and called in a female deputy to conduct a cavity search. When the female deputy arrived, she told Corley to pull her pants down, but Corley protested because she was cuffed and had no underwear on. The deputy ordered Corley to bend over, pulled down her pants and began to search her.

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Then, according to Cammack, Corley stood up and protested, so the deputy threw her to the ground and restrained her while another female was called in to assist. When backup arrived, each deputy held one of Corley's legs apart to conduct the probe.

"What these officers did out there at the Texaco station was unconscionable. I've worked many big cases and I've never seen that," said Cammack, who plans to sue the Harris County Sheriff's Office in federal court.

The Sheriff's Office said they could not comment on an ongoing investigation, but confirmed an incident took place.

Rebecca Robertson, legal and policy director of the ACLU of Texas, said a cavity search without a warrant was a "blatant" violation of the Fourth Amendment, and that an orifice probe was the most invasive search possible.

"A body cavity search without a warrant would be constitutionally suspect," she said. "But a body cavity search by the side of the road ... I can't imagine a circumstance where that would be constitutional."

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When she arrived, she told Corley to pull her pants down, but Corley protested because she was cuffed and had no underwear on. The deputy ordered Corley to bend over, pulled down her pants and began to insert her finger into Corley's vagina.

Then, according to Cammack, Corley stood up and protested, so the deputy threw her to the ground and restrained her while another female was called in to assist. When backup arrived, each deputy held one of Corley's legs apart while they conducted the orifice probe.

"I've defended law enforcement. I don't jump on the band wagon of trying to persecute police officers," Cammack said. "But what these officers did out there at the Texaco station was unconscionable. I've worked many big cases and I've never seen that."

Rebecca Robertson, legal and policy director of the ACLU of Texas, said the cavity search without a warrant was a "blatant" violation of the Fourth Amendment, and that an orifice probe was the most invasive search possible.

"A body cavity search without a warrant would be constitutionally suspect," she said. "But a body cavity search by the side of the road... I can't imagine a circumstance where that would be constitutional."

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A public cavity search is even in violation of common protocol for the Harris County Sheriff's Office, said Robert Goerlitz, president of the Harris County Sheriff Deputies Organization.

To perform a cavity search — which Goerlitz noted have turned up crack pipes and drugs — deputies should arrest a suspect and take them to an HSCO substation. Headquarters downtown even boasts a microwave scanner that can perform the task without intrusion.

Goerlitz said that in his years training deputies, he has never taught a roadside cavity search.

"I can't really say I've ever heard of that happening before," he said. "That's kind of shocking to me."

Robertson noted that cavity searches have been the subject of past litigation in Texas.

In 2013, the DPS was forced to pay $185,000 to two Irving women who alleged Texas Department of Public Safety troopers had conducted cavity searches roadside, illuminated by patrol car headlights and in full view of passing traffic, in which the trooper touched both women without changing gloves.

In July 2014, a New Mexico woman was awarded $1.1 million in a lawsuit against and El Paso hospital where she was subjected to a body cavity search for narcotics that didn't turn up drugs. The woman also sued Customs and Border Patrol officers who detained her at a border crossing and requested the cavity search.

And December 2014, a Harris County woman sued the DPS over what she claims was an unwarranted cavity search roadside, where she said male officers stood around and watched.

RELATED: DPS denies woman's claim of illegal body search

According to court documents, Corley was arrested for possession of marijuana and for resisting arrest; a criminal complaint says Corley pushed a deputy with her hip and kicked her with her foot. KTRK TV reports deputies seized a half-gram of marijuana, but didn't say where it was located.