Stockton protester who alleged racial bias makes plea deal

Lareesha Brown on Monday pleaded guilty to one count of willfully resisting, obstructing or delaying a peace officer during a Black Lives Matter protest outside of a Stockton City Council meeting in March 2017, according to a Monday post on the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office’s Facebook page.

According to the Facebook post, Brown’s attorney, Yolanda Huang, filed two motions in 2017 and one this October to recuse the district attorney’s office from prosecuting Brown or the other protesters arrested at the March 2017 protest, accusing the district attorney’s office of racism citing a skit that took place at the district attorney’s office on Halloween of 2016.

Leaked photos from the 2016 Halloween party show a deputy district attorney snorting white powder to imitate cocaine use while dressed as Snow White, watched other district employees dressed as the Seven Dwarves wearing black and white prison stripes, one of whom held a sign that read “Dwarf Lives Matter.”

According to the district attorney’s Monday Facebook post, none of the racial bias alleged by Huang had been proven after a review by two superior court judges and the California Attorney General’s Office, and Huang’s motions were denied.

Although Brown was originally charged with battery on a police officer, resisting arrest and obstructing a sidewalk for allegedly kicking and/or striking an officer during the protest, according to an Oct. 9 post on the district attorney’s Facebook page, the Monday post said that Brown’s matter will be dismissed in six months if she complies with the following terms:

“As part of the conditions of the plea, Brown must remain free from committing any new law violations, excluding minor traffic infractions; obey all laws; make all outstanding court appearances; participate in a ‘restorative justice’ conference/round table with members of the Stockton Police Department and complete 48 hours of community service,” the Facebook post said. “Failure to complete the above terms will result in the guilty plea remaining as a conviction.”

In a Monday press release sent out by Huang, Brown thanked the district attorney’s office for offering the deal.

“I am more than happy to perform community service, because that is part of what I regularly do as part of my civic duty,” Brown said in the press release. “Most importantly, the police and the DA offered, and I’ve accepted the opportunity to meet and talk frankly about important issues in the community, including the inequities in our court and justice system which Black people face.”