An Oakland jury must decide whether two California Highway Patrol officers will be held civilly liable for the allegedly unlawful arrest of a Black man in Sonoma County.
Nicholas La Motte, a Sonoma County resident, is seeking at least $4 million in damages from CHP Officer Jayce Ray and Sgt. John Snider, alleging in a lawsuit that three years ago, he was “targeted for mistreatment because of his race” and falsely arrested.
On the witness stand on Friday, La Motte testified that on April 25, 2023, he was returning home from visiting his grandmother in San Francisco, driving northbound on U.S. 101 at around 1:30 a.m. He noticed a car close behind him and followed his navigation’s instructions by taking the Santa Rosa exit…