PALO ALTO, Calif. — A young defendant of color was repeatedly characterized with criminalizing language tied to alleged weapons and gang associations during a motion to suppress evidence hearing Wednesday at the Palo Alto Courthouse, despite having no violent criminal history.
Deputy District Attorney Sara Tabrizi called the arresting officer, Curtis Lau of the Mountain View Police Department, as a witness.
Lau explained that he pulled over the defendant’s vehicle for following too closely behind a firetruck flashing its emergency lights and sounding its siren. After asking the vehicle’s driver to roll down its tinted windows, he recognized the driver as the defendant from “previous contacts” with him and smelled marijuana in the vehicle…