Attorneys representing parties named in a lawsuit filed by a former Los Altos High School student suing the local school district and police department for false arrest, invasion of privacy and battery are scheduled to meet with the plaintiff’s lawyer Wednesday, but don’t expect a settlement.
“I strongly believe nothing whatsoever has been done wrong by school officials and police,” said Los Altos Mayor Ron Packard in a February interview with the Town Crier. “I do not want to settle the case and thereby send a chilling effect to our police or school officials about exercising good judgment.”
Cesar Enciso alleges in his 2007 lawsuit that he was sick – not under the influence of marijuana – when a school resource officer handcuffed and drug tested him after school hours in 2006. Enciso was a freshman at the time.
Story previously reported in the Town Crier here.
Court documents show that Los Altos police detective Susan Anderson concluded that Enciso’s “mouth was dry and his tongue was coated with a white-yellowish substance, indicative of marijuana.”
According to documents filed by Enciso’s attorney, Robert Baker, the incident began with his client’s teacher asking Encino what was wrong after he put his head down on his desk after sixth period.
After another student who stayed after the bell suggested Enciso was high on drugs, Bonanno requested that the high school’s student conduct liaison, Ron Nelson, escort Enciso to the assistant principal’s office. Nelson said in a deposition that he didn’t notice anything unusual about Enciso’s behavior at the time.
Baker claims in opposition to a motion for summary judgment that Bonanno knew Enciso had been feeling ill and had missed several days of school prior to the incident.
Anderson informed Enciso prior to detention that, per protocol, because he was a minor, if he wanted a drug test to “clear his name,” he would have to be arrested first, according to court papers. Baker alleged that Anderson didn’t warn Enciso before “kicking” his legs apart and handcuffing him.
If a settlement is not reached at Wednesday’s conference, the case is scheduled to go to a jury trial May 9.
