Jury awards driver seventy six dollars

A federal jury in Texas ruled in favor of Alek Schott of Houston, who sued Bexar County and its sheriff over an unconstitutional traffic stop.

Police pulled him over for lane drifting

In March twenty twenty-two, deputy Joel Babb pulled over Schott's pickup truck in Bexar County while Schott was driving home from Carrizo Springs.

Real reason came from license plate data

The actual reason for the stop was a WhatsApp message from someone named Kiki, who worked with a federal fusion center in Laredo and had access to automated license plate reader data.

Dashcam showed no lane drifting occurred

Footage from Schott's dashcam showed he never drifted lanes.Bodycam footage from the deputy showed Schott gave calm, mundane answers about a work trip.

“Footage from Alek's own dashcam shows he never drifted lanes.”

Truck searched for seventy six minutes

Schott was detained for seventy six minutes while his truck was thoroughly searched.Police found nothing, despite the drug dog's alert.

AI camera flagged plate, police invented violation

Attorney Josh Windham said an AI-powered camera flagged Schott's plate, an anonymous law enforcement agent decided his ordinary trip looked suspicious, and a deputy went out and found a violation that never happened.

“This is what mass surveillance looks like when it reaches the shoulder of the highway.”

Lawsuit seeks to stop baseless traffic stops

The Institute for Justice will ask the court to enjoin Bexar County from using baseless traffic stops as a tool for warrantless searches and work to enforce the precedent across Texas.