From TriCities.com:
Nearly everyone carries a cell phone and it’s hard to find one without that camera feature. It’s convenient when you want to take that impromptu photo, but a Tri-Cities area man ended up behind bars after snapping a shot of a Johnson County sheriff’s deputy during a traffic stop.
The cell phone photographer says the arrest was intimidation, but the deputy says he feared for his life.
“Here’s a guy who takes me out of the car and arrests me in front of my kids. For what? To take a picture of a police officer?” said Scott Conover.
A Johnson County sheriff’s deputy arrested Scott Conover for unlawful photography.
“He says you took a picture of me. It’s illegal to take a picture of a law enforcement officer,” said Conover.
Conover took a picture of a sheriff’s deputy on the side of the road on a traffic stop. Conover was stunned by the charge.
“This is a public highway,” said Conover.
And it was not a place where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy as Tennessee code states. The deputy also asked Conover to delete the picture three times.
“He said if you don’t give it to me, you’re going to jail,” said Conover.
Under the advice of the Johnson County attorney, the sheriff would not comment and the arresting deputy said he didn’t want to incriminate himself by talking to us.
In an affidavit, the deputy said he saw something black with a red light which he thought was a threat. Conover was also arrested for pointing a laser at a law enforcement officer.
“At no time did I have a laser. I had an iPhone,” said Conover.
The rest of the article is here. Conover’s charges, as they were printed in the Mountain City Tomahawk:
John Scott Conover, 70120/ Disorderly Conduct/ Dep McCloud, 70121/ Pointing a Laser @ an Officer, 70122/ Unlawful Photography
Refusing to delete pictures taken from a public area isn’t disorderly. It’s asserting one’s rights. And while I understand the reasoning behind the “don’t point big scary lasers at cops” law, the charge just doesn’t fly in this case. If the officer asked Conover to delete the photos, he had obviously established this wasn’t a laser.
What happened seems clear to me: Conover annoyed the cop by taking his picture. When Conover refused to delete them, the cop got angry and arrested him. (After all, the photos might have been taken with the intention of policing the police – and how dare a mere mortal citizen do this? ) After the arrest, the officer scrambled to find some law, any law which would back up his actions.
Conover heads to court on August 6th – and I imagine the charges will be dismissed. The department surely knows all Hell will break loose if they’re not – but is this good enough?
This man was arrested on trumped up charges, hauled off to jail in front of his kids and had more rights violated than you can shake a stick at – I’ll also bet Conover’s photos were erased. Even if the whole thing is tossed out, who won?
Hello I see you have this posted. I know this man very well , his strong minded and knows his rights better than these cops know there enforcement . His photos didn’t get erased .
thought i’d let you know.
Samantha, I’m surprised the photos survived the book-in and a little curious as to how far they made it through the processing before someone realized, “Oh shit, this is probably unconstitutional.” Unlawful photos of a public servant taken in a public place… that’s rich.
I hope you’ll keep us updated on the case – and let us know if we need to bring our “Free Scott” signs to Johnson County.
This is false arrest. The deputy is probably also hankering for a federal Civil Rights lawsuit, and if one comes his way I will be the first to cheer. It’s time to get these sorts of bullies who illegally intimidate innocent members of the public out of the police force, and preferable into prison where they belong.
The deputy is also guilty of perjury because he lied on his official report about lasers, which was obviously to cover his own ass after he realized that public photography is almost always legal.
Mr. Conover needs to contact the FBI, they investigate Color of Law violations and if he files a complaint they WILL launch an investigation:
http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/civilrights/color.htm
The deputy not did a false arrest, but he also fabricated evidence when he claimed he saw a laser.
“False arrest and fabrication of evidence: The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right against unreasonable searches or seizures. A law enforcement official using authority provided under the color of law is allowed to stop individuals and, under certain circumstances, to search them and retain their property. It is in the abuse of that discretionary power—such as an unlawful detention or illegal confiscation of property—that a violation of a person’s civil rights may occur.
Fabricating evidence against or falsely arresting an individual also violates the color of law statute, taking away the person’s rights of due process and unreasonable seizure. In the case of deprivation of property, the color of law statute would be violated by unlawfully obtaining or maintaining a person’s property, which oversteps or misapplies the official’s authority.”
And here is a pamphlet from an Attorny one can print out which outlines laws about public photography:
http://www.krages.com/ThePhotographersRight.pdf
[...] a ridiculous assertion, as no camera or cell phone I’m aware of is equipped with a laser. It seems pretty clear that the deputy just got angry at the man and invented up a reason to drag him off to jail in front [...]
[...] and here are two local bloggers responding (very well) to the story. Here’s the story [...]
Thank You for your information on the color of law statue. Your a great source of information.I am Scott Conover the man who was arrested for “unlawful photography” in TN . We recently had to move due to the overwhelming harassment and intimidation from the same sheriff’s department. Email me if interested in any more correspondents. +
Scott very sorry to hear you have had to leave Tennessee. I was wondering can you post an update or final thoughts of your ordeal on a really great site. Photography is not
a crime. They have a page up that talks about your story here.
http://carlosmiller.com/2008/08/05/deputy-threatened-to-arrest-12-year-old-daughter-with-unlawful-photography/#more-719
Ok so I kind of understand the reason why you all are mad but let me just say that the police officers are trained to do their job he couldnt have possibly really known what the phone was or if it was a phone. And as far as the laser goes how do you know that the guy he arrested didnt have one. No offense IM JUST SAYING
Brittany, let’s pretend for a moment this officer had never seen an iphone, which is a stretch considering that it is the most popular on the market.
Then, the problem with this theory is the officer did not say: “Hey, put down that laser!” He says “It’s illegal to take a picture of a law enforcement officer.” The conversation during the arrest indicates (1) he was fully aware the man had a camera/phone and (2) the issue between them were the photographs. Since the officer did not, at any time, mention a laser or cite the law to the photographer, I believe he was advised to add the charge later by someone who realized the “unlawful photography” charge was problematic.
I agree officers have a job to do, and normally I give them the benefit of the doubt. Not this time. This officer clearly abused his authority because he was angry or intimidated by a guy with a camera. As far as I know, that’s not in his job description.