Austin Motorcyclist Alleges Cops Violated His Rights For Photographing His Tattoos

AUSTIN, TX — Tattoos, we're told, are deeply personal emblems illustrative of their wearer, speaking to their worldview or personal beliefs. One Austin motorcyclist is extending this ideal further, suing three police officers he says forced him to lift his shirt up and bare his skin during a traffic stop so that they could photograph his tattoos as part of their evidence gathering.

Kristopher Cody King, 34, claims his civil rights were violated when police pulled him over on Koenig Lane on Dec. 13 for failing to signal in making a turn on his motorcycle, the Austin American-Statesman reports. During the stop, King alleges, three police officers directed him to consent to the photos or risk being taken to jail to have the tattoos photographed there, the newspaper reported.

Ironically, King wasn't cited during the incident, which took place Dec. 13 at around 1:15 p.m.

But King isn't letting it go, filing his lawsuit in federal court on Thursday. The suit names officer Dane )O'Neill and two others as defendants.

In the lawsuit filed by attorney Millie Thompson, officers are alleged to have interrogated King about the patches on his vest and any biker affiliations to which he might belong. The biker doesn't specify how much financial compensation he seeks as a result, but notes he suffered mental anguish during the traffic stop, has lost sleep as a result and now fears riding his motorcycle on Austin streets.

“King has been fearful to ride through Austin, afraid that he will be pulled over for no reason by the police," the suit reads in part. “King has relived the emotional turmoil the incident created, each time he tells a friend or family member about what happened to him on December 13th. He has lost sleep. He is afraid to stay at his home, knowing that the same officers who had no regard for his rights know where he lives.”

Despite his mental anguish over the forced tattoo exposure, King had the presence of mind to record part of the encounter on his cell phone. Photos from the encounter have since been posted on the website of an organization called Motorcycle Profiling Project, an advocacy group that seeks to protect bikers from poice bias.
"Many in law enforcement decide to take actions based on appearance and a bikers-are-bad stereotype, as opposed to behavior," David Devereaux from the MPP told the Statesman. "Most of these incidents go unnoticed because they are not documented or videoed."
Devereaux labeled the officers' actions as "deplorable," calling them a clear violation of the 4th Amendment of the Constitution. That's the one safeguarding against unreasonable search and seizure.

"Under federal law, the U.S. Supreme Court recently explained exactly how the 4th Amendment works in terms of extending traffic stops for investigatory purposes beyond an investigation of the traffic infraction that justified the initial seizure," MPP officials write on their website, citing the case of Rodriguez v. US (2015) as legal precedent.

"The extended duration of Cody’s stop amounts to a 4th Amendment violation," MPP officials continue. "The moment that the APD officer confirmed that Cody would not be receiving a ticket, authority for the seizure ended because tasks tied to the traffic infraction were or reasonably should have been completed."

For their part, police declined to comment while citing the pending litigation.

>>> Read the full story at Austin American-Statesman

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