Murder Black Man Go To Prison Only 2 Years in Prison Oakland

[WaTcHeR]

'Mr. Grant,' not 'the victim'

As prosecutors and the defense prepare for Johannes Mehserle's upcoming murder trial, they're jockeying for position with legal filings intended to keep jurors from being influenced in subtle ways.

Defense attorneys for the former BART police officer, accused of murdering unarmed train rider Oscar Grant on Jan. 1, 2009, want the judge to direct that the slain man be referred to as "Mr. Grant" during the trial -- rather than "the victim."

They also want Mehserle to be called "Officer Mehserle" rather than "the defendant."

John Burris, an attorney for Grant's family, said he had no problem with the "Mr. Grant" request. But "Officer Mehserle" would be inaccurate, he said, noting that Mehserle quit the BART force six days after the fatal shooting and is no longer an officer.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, are asking the judge to bar the introduction of what they call irrelevant and prejudicial evidence involving Grant. That includes any mention that Grant was a parolee -- he was sentenced to 16 months in state prison in 2007 after fleeing from a traffic stop while armed with a loaded pistol -- that he had the name of his Hayward neighborhood tattooed on his back, and that he had a medical marijuana card in his wallet when he was shot.

Mehserle's attorneys have said the former officer meant to stun Grant with his Taser on the platform at the Fruitvale Station in Oakland but pulled his pistol by mistake. They are seeking, over the objections of prosecutors, to have a use-of-force expert describe other cases from around the country in which officers reported mistaking their guns for Tasers.

Another issue that Judge Robert Perry of Los Angeles County Superior Court will have to decide involves the composition of the jury. The defense wants active police officers to be eligible to serve, saying a state law that bars many of them from juries is unconstitutional.

Prosecutors, though, noted that BART sponsored legislation in 2001 to add its officers to the list of those ineligible to serve on juries, arguing that their time was better spent protecting the public.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/cri ... z0muwJ9Kph




http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/cri ... 2514&tsp=1

[WaTcHeR]

Watch all 6 angles of the BART shooting in sync and listen to dispatch calls made by police officers before and after Oscar Grant was shot.

This footage also includes never before seen BART platform video that BART initially denied existed. According to BART spokesperson Jim Allison there was no tape, but that turned out to be wrong, and according the BART chief spokeperson, "it doesn't show"much," by that video was very revealing even though you can't see the actual shooting. 1) It shows the arrival of Marysol Domenici who stated under oath that there were up to 40 people on platform threatening her when she arrived at 2 mins 57 sec of the clip. 2) It also shows that Pirone was using his TASER as a pointer through the window of a train car looking for Oscar Grant. 3) It shows that Grant got off the train without resisting at 3 min 33 secs. 4) It shows the arrival of Mehserle at 5 min 20 secs.

An officer involved shooting has never been captured in part by 6 different cameras but on January 1, 2009, BART police officer Johannes Mehserle can be seen shooting and killing Oscar Grant by one gun shot to the back. Mehserle was later charged with murder and was eventually arrested for the offense that occurred in Oakland, CA.

According to Mehserle, he accidentally pulled his firearm when he meant to use his yellow TASER when he shot Grant. Anthony Pirone could be seen striking Grant with his arm and kicking him with his left leg. Although according to witnesses, Grant never resists the officers, Pirone wanted Grant arrested for resisting arrest seconds before Mehserle shot Grant. Pirone smothered Grant with both his left and right knees which could been seen over Grant's neck and head area.

According the defense attorney Michael Rains, Grant was resisting arrest when under the 240 pounds of officer Pirone, but prosecutor David Stein argued that Grant was under the weight of several hundred pound, and on top of Carlos Reyes' leg and could not breath or give up his arms to be cuffed. Upon Reyes' leg being removed from under Grants right side, Stein argued that Grant's arms were behind his back. In closing arguments, Stein told the jury that "it could never be lawful to shoot an unarmed man while his hand are behind his back."

Date: July 4, 2010
Ffrom: January 1, 2009
Location, Fruitavale train station, Oakland, CA
Edited by: Alex Alonso
Soula Media

[WaTcHeR]

Jury Deliberations Restart

As Oakland residents and police officers braced themselves for riots, yesterday’s expected verdict on the Johannes Mehserle trial was abruptly delayed. Jury deliberations closed when one juror called in sick. Another juror left for vacation and was replaced by an alternate. As a result, deliberations are expected to begin from scratch today.

The trial’s relocation to LA and the resulting white and Latino jury also caused contention. Those rallying for justice for Oscar Grant now hope for a second-degree murder charge. If the jury rules otherwise, major protests are expected in LA and Oakland. Activists in both cities are holding their breaths for an indefinite time until the final verdict is reached.


http://uprisingradio.org/home/?p=14195

[WaTcHeR]

A white transit police officer was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter on Thursday in the videotaped shooting death of an unarmed black man that triggered a night of rioting in Oakland, California.

The defendant in the racially charged trial, Johannes Mehserle, 28, testified that he mistakenly drew his pistol instead of his electric Taser weapon and shot Oscar Grant, 22, while trying to subdue him during a New Year's Day 2009 confrontation.

But prosecutors said in closing arguments that Mehserle "lost all control" and intentionally shot Grant because he was resisting arrest.

The Los Angeles County jury of four men and eight women deliberated for about six hours over two days before reaching their verdict, indicating they essentially believed Mehserle's account that he shot Grant accidentally.

Juries can find a defendant guilty of involuntary manslaughter if they believe he lacked the intent to kill but that his actions were so grossly negligent that he should be held criminally responsible for them.

Legal experts have said involuntary manslaughter is generally punishable by two to four years in prison. It is rare for a law enforcement officer to be charged with murder in connection with an on-duty shooting.

Police in Oakland, across the Bay to the east of San Francisco, moved to a tactical alert status as they braced for the possibility of renewed violence following the verdict. But civic leaders appealed for calm.

Demonstrations by supporters of Grant, a young father who worked as a grocery store butcher, were planned in Oakland and Los Angeles.

"We don't know if we're going to have a riot or a celebration, but either way we're going to have one," protester Cindy Delgado said outside the downtown Los Angeles courthouse before the verdict was announced.


http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6 ... mesticNews

[WaTcHeR]

This image provided by the Los Angeles County Superior Court shows a cell phone image taken, according to lawyers, by Oscar Grant, of former San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police officer Johannes Mehserle shortly before Mehserle shot Grant on New Year's Day 2009. Mehserle testified Friday June 25, 2010 that he mistakenly pulled out his pistol instead of a stun gun when he shot and killed an unarmed black man who was lying face down on an Oakland train platform. This photo shows him pointing his taser toward Oscar Grant before he later pulled out his gun and shot him. (AP Photo/ Los Angeles County Superior Court)

[joeymac]

2-4 years????? Seriously!!!!! How is that even possible? I don't know all of the facts, but regardless, how can 2-4 years in anyway, be justice for someone losing their life!!!! What would I get if I shot someone, who was face down, being held down? And the other officer who was holding him down???? If my friend was holding soeone down and I shot him, don't we both go to prison! People should not stand for this. Especially from people we put our trust in to protect us. Their punishments should be 10x more then the average persons. Because they are fully aware of the law and its consequences, and still, someone lost their life. well, I take comfort in knowing that God will also pass judgement on these men.

[joeymac]

Outraged!!!! I can't stop thinking about this. It is such a sad story. We as humans, as people who live side by side, should never, for any reason, have things like this happen. And about the officer who uses the word nigger!?!?!? Seriously??? Are you inbred. It blows my mind that the word nigger is still in use and still has such a powerful effect. We as people need to evolve. and a lot faster. Nigger..........................their are a lot of stupid words I use on a daily basis, that show how uneducated and ignorant, I am, but at least I'm ahead of some people. I'd rather call someone a cotton picker, just as gay and as stupid as calling someone a nigger. We should all be ashamed of this behavior as a human race. We all are responsible in our own little way. Things should be different and more peaceful all over the world.

[WaTcHeR]

Judge Robert Perry has sentenced a white former transit officer to two years in prison in the shooting death of an unarmed black man on a California train platform.
The sentence by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Perry was significantly less than the possible 14-year maximum term for Johannes Mehserle.
When Perry issued his sentence, the mother of victim Oscar Grant shouted, "Oh my!"
Perry, however, threw out a gun enhancement that could have added 10 years in prison and said there was overwhelming evidence indicating it was an accidental shooting.

--------------------------------




As many as 150 demonstrators were arrested in Oakland during protests over the two-year prison sentence handed down to a former police officer who fatally shot an unarmed man on an Oakland train station platform.

A four-hour peaceful demonstration at Oakland City Hall moved into the surrounding streets and took on a more aggressive tone Friday evening with marchers smashing windshields, making obscene gestures at surrounding police and noisily shouting slogans.

Police in riot gear allowed several hundred marchers to move through the streets for about an hour before encircling a smaller number of people near 6th Avenue and East 17th Street. Demonstrators left a trail of broken windshields as they moved down 17th Street, angering some residents.

Police moved in after one officer was injured after being struck by a car and another officer's gun was grabbed by a protester.

Officials said that overall, the protests were less destructive than those that occurred in July concerning the case.

The demonstrators were expressing anger at the case of Johannes Mehserle. On Friday, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry said evidence in the racially charged case showed that the shooting was an accident caused when Mehserle mistakenly reached for a firearm instead of an electric Taser weapon he meant to use.
As Perry spoke, the victim's mother rushed from the courtroom with other relatives and supporters. "Nothing, he got nothing!" she told reporters after she exited.

The sentencing followed a tearful apology from Mehserle, who, handcuffed to a waist chain over his orange prison jumpsuit, insisted that the shooting was unintentional.

"I want to say how deeply sorry I am," said Mehserle, 28. "Nothing I could ever say or do could heal the wound I created."

Grainy video footage of the New Year's Day 2009 shooting was captured by several witnesses and shows Mehserle, who is white, firing one round into the back of Oscar J. Grant III, who was black. Grant, 22, was lying face-down on the Fruitvale Station platform when he was shot.

The shooting triggered rioting days later and again in July, when a Los Angeles jury rejected murder and voluntary manslaughter charges but found that the officer acted with gross negligence.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2 ... serle.html

[KC]

Since ex-BART cop Johannes Mehserle's sentencing last Friday, Oscar Grant supporters angry at a criminal justice system that seems to have abandoned their efforts to bring about justice have been ramping up their actions to demand institutional recognition and accountability for Grant's death.

First on advocates' list of demands has been to call on Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate the case and prosecute Mehserle in federal court. An online petition that was initiated this summer with those demands has been revived again in recent weeks. So far the petition has 393 signatures.

The Department of Justice has heard people's complaints, and is examining the details of the case.

"The Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California have been closely monitoring the local prosecution of this case," the Department of Justice said in a statement after Friday's sentencing.

"Now that the state prosecution has concluded and consistent with Department policy, we will thoroughly review the prosecution...


http://www.alternet.org/rss/breaking_ne ... rant_case/

[WaTcHeR]

Judge denies Mehserle bail

LOS ANGELES -- Former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle will continue to serve his seven-month term in jail while an appeal of a jury's involuntary manslaughter conviction against him moves through the courts, a judge declared Friday.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Perry said there was no legal basis to grant bail because, in his opinion, Mehserle's likelihood of winning a reversal of the jury's verdict is minimal.

"This court sincerely believes (the jury's) decision will not be reversed," Perry said. "The verdict is fully supported by the evidence and is unlikely to be disturbed on appeal."

Mehserle was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in July for killing Oscar Grant III, 22, on the Fruitvale BART station platform early Jan. 1, 2009.

Several months after his conviction, Mehserle was given what Grant's family argued was a lenient punishment, when Perry sentenced the 28-year-old to a two-year prison term. Because of credits for time served, Mehserle will likely spend just seven months in prison.

Nevertheless, Mehserle's attorney Michael Rains immediately filed a notice for appeal and asked for bail.

In court Friday, Rains briefly argued that Mehserle met the three criteria necessary for a defendant to be released from jail on bail while an appeal is considered. Those criteria include not being a flight risk, not being a danger to society and having "substantial issues on appeal" that would lead a judge o believe a conviction could be overturned.

As a result, Rains said, his client should have received a $30,000 bail.

Rains made his arguments in a much more relaxed courtroom atmosphere than the one that filled the courtroom last month when Mehserle was sentenced. Empty seats remained in the galley, and only a couple of Grant's family members attended. Grant's mother, Wanda Johnson, did not make the trip to Los Angeles. There was also no shouting from the audience and only a handful of protesters stood outside the courthouse building before the hearing.

Inside the court, the arguments between Rains and prosecutors also appeared to be less heated as each stated their case without raising voices.

Prosecutors did not challenge Rains' beliefs that Mehserle was not a flight risk or a danger to society, and Perry ruled Friday that he agreed.

However, Perry did not agree with Rains' argument that Mehserle had raised several legal issues that an appeals court would find damaging enough to reverse the jury's involuntary manslaughter conviction.

"Just because an issue can be raised on appeal does not mean it would likely result in an overturned conviction," Perry said. "The jury found his actions constituted gross negligence."

Grant's uncle, Cephus Johnson, said he was pleased that Mehserle has to serve a stint in prison but still angered that his nephew's killing was only punished by less than a year in prison.

"Had this bail been granted, it would have been an atomic bomb dropping on the Bay Area," Johnson said. "We are pleased the motion was denied."

Rains did not appear surprised when Perry denied bail but said outside of court that he will continue to fight for his client's release and for the conviction to be overturned.

Even though Rains admitted Mehserle will most likely be freed from jail by the time an appeal is heard, he said it was important to keep fighting to protect other police officers.

"What Johannes is concerned about is that if this conviction stands, it may send a signal to other DA's in the state that it's OK to prosecute a police officer for making this kind of mistake," Rains said.

Prosecutors did not comment on the hearing and said in court that Perry should not grant bail because Rains had not shown how his legal issues would result in an overturned conviction. They also argued that most of the legal errors cited by Rains were already dealt with in Perry's decision to overturn Mehserle's conviction of using a gun during the crime and giving the former officer the least possible jail term allowed.

Rains said that he will ask an appeals court next week to review the denial of bail and said that he would rather have Mehserle serve his time in Los Angeles County Jail rather than state prison because the jail is safer.

"The L.A. County Jail is a known quantity," Rains said. "It doesn't make good sense to transfer him to state prison."


http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ ... ck_check=1