- Police Brutality Watch

One of the two Palo Alto police officers facing brutality charges for allegedly beating a black motorist took the witness stand Tuesday for the first time as the prosecutor wrapped up his case. Officer Michael Kan, 26, began reading a transcript of his testimony during the case's preliminary examination for the jury late Tuesday afternoon. Kan and Officer Craig Lee, 41, are accused of beating and pepper-spraying Palo Alto resident Albert Hopkins, 61, on the night of July 13, 2003, after he allegedly refused to provide identification to the officers and became confrontational. At the preliminary examination held last summer, Kan testified that when he arrived on the scene to provide back-up to Lee, he approached Hopkins, who was "hostile." "He was basically argumentative with me and very aggressive," Kan said. Kan read his preliminary examination testimony in which he described Hopkins as cursing and using slang on the night of the alleged beating. "A black man can't do nothing in Palo Alto without the police being involved," Kan testified Hopkins said. Last week Hopkins testified at the trial that he received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a master's degree from San Diego State University. During his testimony, which lasted more than a day, he never used the style of speech that Kan attributed to him at the preliminary examination. [more]