Texas man claims jailers choked him because he smiled for his mugshot

Christopher Johnson says he’s just a smiley guy.

So he was smiling when authorities took his mugshot — and he says they didn’t like that.

Johnson, 38, alleges that two Harris County, Texas, sheriff’s department employees put their hands around his neck and choked him for 30 seconds to make him stop smiling.

This week he filed a federal lawsuit against the department.

“He was choked, in front of a room full of people, for smiling. That’s very humiliating,” Johnson’s lawyer, Andre Evans, told KTRK TV in Houston.

Johnson was arrested on July 25, 2015, on suspicion of driving drunk on his motorcycle.

The lawsuit, according to the Houston Chronicle, says guards took several photos of him during booking.

When a guard told him to stop smiling, Johnson replied, “This is how I always take my pictures. … I’m going to beat this case. Why wouldn't I smile?”

The guard, according to the suit, said “we gon’ to make you stop smiling,” then brought in a colleague.

Johnson alleges that the two employees put their hands on his neck and choked him for 30 seconds. He asked for medical treatment later because his throat hurt, the suit alleges, but Johnson was told to “sit down and shut up.”

The sheriff’s department said that Johnson was being uncooperative and jailers often have to hold up the heads of people giving them trouble.

“It is not uncommon for detention personnel to assist impaired or uncooperative detainees during the booking photo process,” department spokesman Ryan Sullivan told the New York Daily News.

Johnson was familiar with the booking process.

According to the Houston Chronicle this was his fourth arrest in Harris County — twice for driving with a suspended license and once for felony assault in 2003. He is set to go to trial on June 27 for the drunk driving charge.

Sheriff’s department officials said they’ve taken lots of mugshots of people smiling, even making faces.

This, in fact, is the same department that booked U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay in 2005 when he was arrested for money laundering.

DeLay smiled for his mugshot.

“The Harris County Sheriff's Office believes that proper procedure was followed during the course of Mr. Johnson's booking,” said a statement from the department.

“Should any evidence arise to the contrary, proper administrative actions will be taken. At this time, evidence suggests that Mr. Johnson's pleading does not hold merit.”

Johnson’s lawyers say the incident caused Johnson significant pain and mental anguish. They are seeking unspecified damages from the department, the two jailers and the deputy who first arrested Johnson.

“What took place at the Harris County jail that night was a clear violation of my client's first amendment free speech rights as well as a childish show of excessive force,” said Evans.

The Chronicle reported that Johnson’s is the second lawsuit in the last two weeks to allege harsh treatment by jail employees.

A 28-year-old construction worker filed an excessive-force lawsuit last month alleging that a jailer choked him, too, while he was being photographed.

The sheriff’s department refused to give the newspaper that man’s mugshot, citing the lawsuit.

This story was originally published June 10, 2016 at 6:21 PM with the headline "Texas man claims jailers choked him because he smiled for his mugshot."