A Texas woman is receiving a payday after she was violated by a local police officer. The city of San Antonio has agreed to pay Natalie Simms, 40, after she sued them and ex-Detective Mara Wilson who removed Simms’ tampon during a public cavity search.
Simms was sitting on a side street waiting for her boyfriend in August 2016 when police arrived and asked to search her and her vehicle, believing she might have illegal drugs.
Dashcam footage shows Detective Wilson searching Simms’ pockets before asking her to “spread your legs”.
Reports share in a transcript of dashcam footage Detective Wilson repeatedly asked Simms if she was wearing a tampon, saying: “I just want to make sure that’s what it is.”
“She pulled open Natalie’s pants and underwear and used her flashlight to look at the area,” the lawsuit states.
“Officer Wilson chose to reach into Natalie’s pants and pull the string attached to a tampon.”
The tampon was removed on a public road with five male officers nearby, the lawsuit states.
“It’s full of blood, right? Why would you do that?” Simms asked.
“I don’t know. It looked like it had stuff in there,” Detective Wilson replied.
Detective Wilson then commented that Simms is “very hairy” and then asked her to turn around and spread her legs again.
This is highly unusual that a cavity search was being done without a warrant, in public and with no medical personnel nearby.
Even with a legal warrant, some federal courts have held that search warrants authorizing body cavity searches are…
… unreasonable if there are less invasive means of finding that evidence. Still, police may legally perform a body cavity search on a suspect in good faith, even if the search warrant is later found invalid.
In New York, there are three basic circumstances under which police can conduct a body cavity search. If you have been subjected to a search that does not clearly fall under one of these scenarios, then it’s very possible your rights may have been violated.
The foollowing is an overview of the laws pertaining to body cavity searches.
1. Police can conduct a body cavity search with a search warrant.
If police go through the proper procedures to obtain a search warrant that authorize a body cavity search, the search will be presumed legal.
When a court considers whether to issue a warrant that authorizes a body cavity search, the judge typically weighs:
Even when police have obtained a warrant to conduct a body cavity search, some federal courts have found that body cavity searches are unreasonable if there are less invasive means of finding that evidence.
2. Police can conduct a body cavity search at the border or at an airport.
There is another exception to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement known as the border search exception. This exception allows law enforcement officers to conduct searches (even body cavity searches) at international borders and airports without probable cause.
This rationale is based on the government’s interest in protecting national security at borders and airports. These types of searches are very common in New York at JFK Airport.
3. Police can conduct a body cavity search of a suspect after he or she is incarcerated.
There is another exception to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement that applies to people who are incarcerated. In jails and prisons, law enforcement officers have greater latitude to perform routine strip searches and body cavity searches of arrestees and inmates.
Needless to say, nothing was found on or in Natalie.
Natalie Simms’ $205,000 settlement was processed Thursday for her pain and suffering.
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