We are here today to announce the filing of a lawsuit on behalf of Christina Cardenas against, among others, the California Correctional Institution (CCI), California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley, because of the outrageous unlawful and unconstitutional violation of Christina’s rights on September 6, 2019 after she arrived for a previously scheduled family visit with her husband, Carlos Eugene Cardenas, who was an inmate at CCI. Following are the factual and legal allegations which were made in our lawsuit which we filed in Kern County Superior Court this morning. Christina arrived at the CCI facility at approximately 8:30 a.m. to appear for a scheduled family visit with husband Carlos Eugene Cardenas. The scheduled family visit was to be the first in approximately one year, as the previously scheduled visit for four weeks prior to the incident giving rise to this action had been cancelled without any notice. As with the day of the subject incident, she had traveled between 232 and 239 miles, requiring approximately four hours of travel time. On September 6, 2019, Christina presented to the visiting office of CCI. An officer escorted her to the back right hand side of the visiting office, sat her down, and placed her belongings on the adjacent table. Christina was then interrogated regarding whether she had “brought anything with her” and whether she “brought any drugs in.” Christina truthfully denied it. An officer then informed Christina that a search warrant had been issued and that an officer would be coming to the office to discuss. She asked whether she would be strip searched, which the officer confirmed. This began the emotional damages suffered by Christina, as she had previously been victim to an unwarranted, degrading, and traumatizing search by the State of California on the day of her marriage to her husband. Christina was then presented with a legally invalid search warrant issued at approximately 8:38 a.m. on September 6, 2019. We believe that no Statement of Probable Cause was served on her in conjunction with the search warrant, which violated her constitutional rights. While the validity and manner in which the search warrant was executed is in question, the warrant did limit the scope of potential search in the absence of Christina’s consent, and Christina did not consent to an invasive search of her body. It was explicit in the warrant that a body cavity search could only be conducted after an X-Ray confirmation of the presence of a foreign object likely to be contraband in the body cavity of Christina. An officer informed Christina that, pursuant to the warrant, she would be strip searched, in addition to officers searching all of her belongings and her vehicle. She was visibly distressed by the subject of the search, as well as her detainment in the isolated room with unknown officers crowding the single exit. One unknown officer screamed at her, “Oh wipe away your tears! You know what you and your husband have been doing!” Despite this effort of intimidation, completed in their individual and official capacities, under the color of state law, and/or in the course and scope of the unknown officer’s employment, Christina responded through tears, “Don’t tell me to wipe away my tears, I am innocent, and what you are saying to me is inappropriate.” Shortly thereafter, Christina was left in the small room with three officers. She was then unlawfully examined by the officers, first by opening her mouth and sticking out her tongue, then by showing her ears and turning her head upside down to shake out her hair. No contraband was found during the search. Christina was then unlawfully instructed to take her clothing off piece by piece and hand them to the officers for inspection. This process began with her top, sports bra, then bra, which left her completely exposed on her top half. The entire statement is available at: https://www.facebook.com/gloriaallred/posts/10158614349500879
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