Texas Cops Actually Indicted for Possible Sexual Assault, Theft Under Guise of a Drug Search

Followup on this story from last year that you read about on Reason 24/7. The details from then:

Two Texas women say police subjected them to an illegal and humiliating body cavity search, after they were pulled over for allegedly tossing cigarette butts out of the window of their vehicle while on a road trip to Oklahoma.

Angel Dobbs, 38, and her 24-year-old niece, Ashley, have filed a federal lawsuit against Texas State Troopers and the head of their department, CBS DFW reports

The lawsuit states that State Trooper David Farrell claimed he smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle and called in a female trooper to do a cavity search to see if the women were hiding anything illegal. He allegedly made the call prior to establishing any probable cause or suspicion that the women were involved in illegal activity beyond littering.

Believe it or not, now the cops have actually been indicted just as if they were normal citizens who had done the same thing, as reported by CBS Dallas/Fort Worth:

Angel and Ashley Dobbs say they're relieved and pleased two state troopers now face criminal charges after this controversial traffic stop caught on dashcam video last July….

It shows trooper Kelly Helleson conducting a body cavity search of both women on an off-ramp of the Bush Turnpike in Irving last July.

Angel's niece, Ashley Dobbs says, "I feel good about it. Justice is being served."

As we reported first last Friday, a Dallas County Grand Jury charged Helleson with two counts of sexual assault and two counts of official oppression.

If convicted, she would have to register as a sex offender.

The Department of Public Safety fired Trooper Helleson.

She is appealing…..

The other trooper, David Farrell, who initiated the traffic stop, is charged with theft.

Angel Dobbs says her bottle of prescription pills was stolen during the traffic stop…

DPS says Trooper Farrell remains suspended pending the outcome of an administrative investigation….

The video:

Comments

[Suellington]

A bit of light from a very dark spot.

[Fist of Etiquette]

If convicted, she would have to register as a sex offender.

This part, I still find ridiculous. That list has got to be watered down to the point it's virtually useless for its supposed purpose.

Also, I am not sure I believe these troopers engaged in this kind of behavior in a vacuum. I want to know what instruction they receive from supervisors on this kind of thing. I bet more heads should be on the chopping block.

[Death Rock and Skull]

I am against sex offender registration, but this bitch has plainly and clearly offended sex.

[Free Society]

fap fap fap fap

[Episiarch]

Let's just see what happens down the line. I predict slaps on the wrist and eventual reinstatement.

[Hugh Akston]

I doubt anyone wants to even slap the troopers on the wrist, considering where the wrists have been.

[John C. Randolph]

How about applying a taser to their wrists?

-jcr

[Death Rock and Skull]

I wager gypsy cops.

[Mike Riggs]

Coming to a city near you!

[Mike Riggs]

Or private security.

[JW]

OFFICER SATISFACTION!

[Warty]

Ew, she touched the girl's clothes after fingerraping her ass, and then she didn't change gloves before switching to the front. Way to give the poor girl a UTI.

[jesse.in.mb]

Warty is a model of caring about the urogenital health of others.

[Hugh Akston]

What he doesn't realize is that one of the perks of being a cop is being able to go ATM without worrying about that kind of shit.

[Another David]

How many kinds of shit are there to worry about?

[SugarFree]

UTIs are the price we pay for a free society.

[Rich]

Dammit, she's a professional, Warty!

Can you prove she didn't use a separate finger for each search?

[Matrix]

Just charged with theft? Isn't stealing prescription medicine a serious thing with serious charges? I know you can get busted for being in possession of prescription medication that is not prescribed to you, in the wrong container, or is mislabeled/not labeled.

[Shine on, Nikki Diamond]

And finally I too know the pain of not getting a hat tip.

[Warty]

Just the tip.

[John]

They are really abusing their comenters. I used to be "beloved". Now I just get hat tips. And some like you don't even get that.

[Episiarch]

You'll take what you get and you'll like it!

[Shine on, Nikki Diamond]

NutraSweet covered that earlier.

[Episiarch]

Don't link AM Links, they're more gauche and jejune than your handle, or NutraSweet's mom. Those of us on West Coast time do not deign to read AM Links.

[SugarFree]

They are too busy in the morning, fluffing their dreads, eating kale cereal and tuning up their hemp bicycles.

[jesse.in.mb]

Kale cereal doesn't eat itself.

[Enough About Palin]

Pity, that.

[Episiarch]

I'm too busy trying to sleep as late as possible. All that other stuff comes later. And my cereal is Amaranth, not kale, you moron.

[Shine on, Nikki Diamond]

Maybe some Earl Gray would help you wake up.

[Agammamon]

Hey, not all of us are in CA. I got to spend part of the morning doing my civic duty - riding my motorcycle without a helmet and a rifle strapped to my back up and down main street.

[Shine on, Nikki Diamond]

That would be a lot more believable if someone in your bullshit time zone hadn't commented in that very subthread. Just as "gauche" might feel like more of an insult to some pathetic, ordinary right-hander.

[Episiarch]

Wait a second...you're sinister? Oh man, you really are the worst. This is perfect.

[jesse.in.mb]

What could you possibly have against the lefties? We're awesome, just ask King Eglon.

[Episiarch]

How many evil, dirty lefties do we have here?!? Who let them in?!?

[jesse.in.mb]

We're really good at lockpicking, it's part of the evil, dirty lefty package.

[Episiarch]

How does it help you with lockpicking, you lefty liar? Most standard locks are counterclockwise with the torque wrench to unlock, thereby giving a right-hander the (slight) advantage. Do you even pick, bro?

[jesse.in.mb]

Damn, you caught me, apparently we aren't even good liars. Maybe we're not even evil...

I'm gonna go have a brief identity crisis.

[Shine on, Nikki Diamond]

It's okay, jesse. I could tell you were one of my kind. He's only jealous because he realizes their rarity makes lefty handjobs more lucrative.

[jesse.in.mb]

"lucrative"

Hmph, I've never made any money off of them.

[Shine on, Nikki Diamond]

Why does that have a "my plan is all falling into place" ring to it?

[Warty]

What, your plan to hang out with other losers who do shit with the wrong hand?

[Shine on, Nikki Diamond]

I was referring to Epi's 12:09.

[Tim]

Nobody wants to hear your theory about the coriolis effect and self pleasuring, again.

[Agammamon]

Its not that we do things with the wrong hand, its that all the rest of you have bought into the government propaganda that there is only one "right" hand with which to do things.

Free your mind and the rest will follow.

[Harvard]

Throwing a ciggybutt out the window. A felony Dunphy can embrace.

[WTF]

Angel and Ashley Dobbs say they're relieved and pleased two state troopers now face criminal charges after this controversial traffic stop caught on dashcam video last July....

So they were too damn stupid to even make sure the dashcam 'malfunctioned'.

[Brandon]

Why would it malfunction when they were planning on using it for the department's annual highlights video?

[Clich? Bandit]

This is actually why I think this is such a ground breaking indictment. They are operating as if this is PERFECTLY NORMAL...even when viewed by the masses. They probably didn't hesitate to say "Hey man, we were good, check the dashcam." Which is indicative of the overarching problem...these bastards are too far gone. At least someone watching that vid in a position of authority said "Now THAT is fucked up!"

[PapayaSF]

two counts of official oppression

That's the funniest crime term I've seen since I learned the term "burglarious tools."

[Whahappan?]

Help, help, I'm being oppressed!

[Agammamon]

Now Imma show you the violence inherent in the system, bitch.

[Spoonman.]

The Dallas County DA seems like a legitimately good guy, which is truly shocking. He's the same one who's been getting guys previously convicted without false/bad evidence off of death row.

[sarcasmic]

Soft on crime.

[John Thacker]

Naturally, the FBI and a US Attorney are investigating him. No joke.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Craig Watkins? Really?

[BakedPenguin]

Of course. He cares about justice, and they're so not into that.

[Loki]

*Sigh* Yes, of course they are... The "Justice" Department. What a fucking joke.

[Tim]

Wow, she really was fishing around down there. Not exactly open to interpretation.

[Rich]

Separate, but related:

State Trooper David Farrell claimed he smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle

Why hasn't anyone marketed "Burning Autumn Leaves and Rope" air-freshener/cologne/body-spray?

[Shine on, Nikki Diamond]

Uh, because if you use it you get sexually assaulted by state troopers?

[jesse.in.mb]

But some people pay good money for that Nicole.

[Shine on, Nikki Diamond]

Taxpayers?

[jesse.in.mb]

Well when you put it that way, yes.

I suppose doubly so if politicians contract out to high paid escorts to be abused by police baton...

[Rich]

It's all the rage!

It's the new NORML!

[LTC(ret) John]

So it is a niche market then?

[Rich]

Nice.

[Jefferson's Ghost]

Been watching this since the beginning. I am not one for the state ever making examples out of a case his was so effin far out of bounds by one of their own they will have to. 20 years, no parole dammit. Let it be a warning to the next hyped up power tripping molester.(morons at the TSA should suffer a similar fate)

[Matrix]

that would be awesome.

[Wind Rider]

Ok, if a cop in Texas can get charged for diddling a motorist. . .

I'm wondering why the Chief Executive of the United States of America isn't facing charges for murder, or at least involuntary manslaughter. The excuse that lots of pieces of paper were generated and filed away in cabinets somewhere make the 4th, 5th and 14th Amendments merely suggestional just doesn't cut it. If the government can reach into your pocket to grab your money, then all the rights and privileges contained in the Constitution with regard to how our government interacts with us should apply worldwide. Declaring that the target of such an extrajudicial killing was 'considered' to be a bad or dangerous person, and labeling them so as to appear repugnant and deserving to the mobocracy is also inadequate.

Why isn't Rand filibustering about what actually happened, instead of what 'may' happen? It already has. WTF?

Seems a lot more rational than simply screaming impeachment over some paperwork or dislike of a legislative agenda.

But an impeachment seems necessary to 'settle' this issue. Can the President kill the citizenry if he feels like it?

[Matrix]

FYTW. That's the clause in the secret Consitution that authorizes POTUS to kill anyone he wants. He could not just come out an tell anyone that, because it's secret. If he said so, it wouldn't be a secret anymore, would it?

[CE]

Because there's only one "Justice" Department, and he runs it? And because it's considered poor form for the next president to hand down indictments for the crimes of his predecessors?

[Brendan]

For the record, I will use whatever amount of force is necessary to prevent a cop from ever cavity searching me on the side of the road.

In all likelihood, this will mean deadly force and will quite likely involve seriously wounding or killing the cop attempting the search as well as any others who are on scene. If that's what it takes to stop an invasive search like that, then that's the level of force I will use.

[sarcasmic]

You'll make some cop's day by giving him an excuse to kill someone.

[Brendan]

Not if I wound or kill him first.

[sarcasmic]

If he plans to do a search, and senses that you object, he'll call for backup first. It won't be one on one.

[BlogimiDei]

more fodder

[Brandon]

This reminds me of a Venture Bros. scene.

[Jefferson's Ghost]

if you are not a hawt female you likely have less to worry about

[CE]

Or as the police will describe the incident, "he was reaching for a weapon".

[Tamfang]

If you reach for his hand, it'll even be true!

[gaoxiaen]

Looks like va good job. Usually I don't get paid for fingering some woman's snatch or cornhole.

[Bean Counter]

HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!!
For those of you who have never been to DFW, Irving is right in the middle of a metropolitan area with over 4 million inhabitants. It's not like it's out in the sticks. For God's sake, the old Cowboy Stadium was just a few miles from where they were stopped. The freeway where they were stopped is very heavily traveled. Fondling a blonde, fit woman under a street light is not exactly the kind of privacy one should expect in a supposedly free country. When I grew up there, Texans had a little repect for women. God, I'm glad I left!!!

[Solus]

I'm stunned...
The police being held to a reasonable standard???
I feel the earth tilting under my feet, gravity seems less powerful.
Now clean up the mess with Tenaha, Texas. A particular hotbed of highway forfeiture activity, so much so that police officers keep pre-signed, pre-notarized documents on hand so they can fill in what property they are seizing.
It's too bad the concept of police following the law will not take root with our Supreme Court whittling away our Constitutional freedoms.