Palo Alto officers accused in beating plead no contest

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

Two Palo Alto police officers accused in the 2003 beating of a 59-year-old black man pleaded no contest to a minor charge of unlawful fighting today as prosecutors decided against retrying the pair on felony brutality charges after the first prosecution ended with a mistrial in April.

Allowing officers Craig Lee, 42, and Michael Kan, 27, to plead no contest -- which legally has the same impact as a guilty plea -- to the infraction for public fighting is likely to draw the ire of police critics because they'll only pay a $250 fine, face no jail time and are expected to return to police work.

But Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Peter Two Palo Alto police officers accused in the 2003 beating of a 59-year-old black man pleaded no contest to a minor charge of unlawful fighting today as prosecutors decided against retrying the pair on felony brutality charges after the first prosecution ended with a mistrial in April.

Waite added that officials also were influenced by the difficulty of winning convictions against police, citing the two mistrials that Alameda County prosecutors faced in trying the Oakland police officers knowns as "the Riders" who had been accused of assaulting or framing drug suspects.

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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/06/07/BAofficers07.DTL

[SammyBlue]

1. California juries

Didn't Rodney King teach them anything?

"Tape, tape? What tape?"

I guess it's because the WHITE officers beat a BLACK man. If it were reverse, I'm sure the BLACK officers would have been publicly flogged by the press and crucified by the jury.

Blind justice, my ass.

[pop goes the weasel]

2. no justice

I have a friend who lost his security guard job because of a $40 hot check that was completely unintentional, and these thugs in uniform get to keep toting a gun? There is no justice, no justice.