Oscar Grant Shooting: Johannes Mehserle's Murder Trial

by duo | June 5, 2009 at 07:39 am

1041 views | 2 Recommendations | 5 comments

Judge Don Clay ruled on June 4 that Johannes Mehserle will stand trial for the January 1 murder of Oscar Grant, an unarmed African American man, age 22. Mehserle shot Grant on the platform of a San Francisco train station, and the fatal shooting was witnessed and filmed by numerous commuters. Video of the fatal shooting and riots that followed Grant’s funeral were viewed by millions via television news and Internet. Both videos are available at the article link below:

Oscar Grant: 1st Unarmed Black Man Police Killed in 2009 – Next?
http://my.nowpublic.com/world/oscar-grant-1st-unarmed-black-man-police-killed-2009-next

Mehserle was an officer with Bay Area Rapid Transit Police. He and other officers responded to a disturbance call before 2:00 a.m. on New Year’s Day. B.A.R.T. officers removed Grant and several other young men from a train car and situated them against the wall of the train station. Officers then separated Grant was from his companions and laid him facedown on the platform. Mehserle straddled Grant and shot him once in his back. Commuters reported hearing Grant plead, “Please don’t, I have a daughter.”

Riots followed Grant’s funeral, and numerous peaceful demonstrations ensured since the initial public outrage. Oscar Grant accountability groups were formed demanding Mehserle’s arrest, which occurred on January 13.

Mehserle's lawyer, Michael Rains, contended that Grant's death was "a tragic accident," because Mehserle accidentally grabbed his pistol instead of his Taser stun gun during the incident, according to CBS News. Excerpts from that news report and a link to the full article are below.

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Mehserle to Stand Trial for Grant's Murder
http://cbs5.com/local/BART.police.shooting.2.1031392.html
June 5, 2009

OAKLAND (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ― "There is no doubt in my mind Mr. Mehserle meant to shoot Oscar Grant with a gun, not a Taser," Alameda County Superior Court Judge Don Clay said concluding a seven-day preliminary hearing. "It's a dangerous act, an intentional act, a deliberate act."

Mehserle, 27, sat looking straight ahead and showed no emotion after the ruling. Grant's mother burst into tears and sobbed.

The judge noted that Mehserle's case marked "the first time a peace officer has been charged with murder" in California.

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UPDATES

6/19/09 - MURDER TRIAL SET TO BEGIN 10/13/09
InsideBayArea.com
http://www.insidebayarea.com/argus/localnews/ci_12618531?source=rss

OAKLAND — A judge on Thursday set Oct. 13 as the date for the beginning of ex-BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle's murder trial in connection with the Jan. 1 killing of Hayward resident Oscar Grant III.

Meanwhile, the lawyer defending Mehserle told an Alameda County Superior Court judge Thursday that he will seek in September to have the trial held in another county.

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Grant’s family filed a $50 million lawsuit through Law offices of John L. Burris - http://www.johnburrislaw.com. The family initially asked for $25 million but increased their demand subsequent to additional findings related to the case. The civil action is being followed in the article at the link below:

Oscar Grant's Family's $50 Million Suit - Cost of Police Violence
http://my.nowpublic.com/world/oscar-grants-familys-50-million-suit-cost-police-violence

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Updates to Mehserle’s murder trial will be made in this article as developments occur.

Your feedback is invited in the rich text comment area below. Other justice articles by this writer are available at this link – http://NowPublic.com/duo

Mary Neal
Website: http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com

Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill
http://Care2.com/c2c/group/AIMI

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duo

at 22:43 on June 12th, 2009

Police accountability is a good thing. It helps preserve the peace in our society. I am glad to have real justice to write about. Seeing an unarmed young man stretched out on cold pavement on the first day of this year and shot in the back by a police officer was a horrific experience. Now that officer is on trial for murder - the first time in history that a California policeman has ever stood trial for murder, although numerous other California citizens have been killed by officers in circumstances that drew public outcry. In case NP readers and authors forgot how Oscar Grant died, here is the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmJukcFzEX4

Mary Neal

duo

at 00:52 on June 6th, 2009

No matter what, I am not filling my comment sections in censorship issues. I have a place for that now at http://Care2.com and I will leave it there. I am disappointed that the cyberstalkers get more busy with articles on Oscar Grant than any others that I write, but some people would tell me that I should have anticipated that.

duo

at 21:05 on June 6th, 2009

THANKS AGAIN, NP. We made front page at Care2 with this important news. I congratulate the State of California on prosecuting the officer for murder. If the young men who were removed from the train had overpowered a police officer, stretched him out on the platform and shot him in his back on video, we all know what would have happened to them. It is good to affirm that JUSTICE must be served, even when the offender wears a uniform. Below is my notification from Care2.

Congratulations! The Care2 Community has promoted your submission to
the Care2 News Network Front Page.

News: Calif. Policeman Tried for Murder for the First Time - Oscar Grant Shooting of Jan 1

In recognition for this outstanding achievement, you've
also been awarded a "Golden Note".

Thank you for contributing to the Care2 Community!

- The Care2 Team

P.S. To learn more about Golden Notes and to see your awards see
My Kudos.

duo

at 22:44 on June 12th, 2009

I was able to input the tags - crime, world, Oscar Grant, B.A.R.T., Bay Area Rapid Transit, Johannes Mehserle, police brutality. But as usual, the thing got stuck on AFRICAN AMERICAN, just like it does when I try to put the tag TASER.

Johannes' lawyer says he meant to Taser Oscar Grant, although one might wonder why he would want to Taser a fully compliant, unarmed citizen. There were numerous B.A.R.T. officers holding Oscar Grant down and standing nearby when he was shot. It is a shame if NONE of them recognized a pistol was in Johannes' hand, not a Taser weapon. Tasers should be orange or bright yellow, since this officer claimed to be clueless about the weaponry he carried. That may help avoid future attempts to excuse such shooting deaths.

duo

at 09:26 on June 8th, 2009

OSCAR GRANT'S FAMILY celebrated when they learned that one of the officers will stand trial for murder. I understand this is a bittersweet time for them. Although their loved one is dead, at least there is some accountability because he died on camera.

The deaths of black men who are arrested first and then returned to their families as corpses, like my brother Larry Neal, often get no accountability. In fact, since Larry's death in Shelby Co. Jail in Memphis, TN under SECRET ARREST, we have been asking for nearly six years but all requests for records or explanations have been refused. Furthermore, the jail was allowed to ignore federal subpoena for records in the Neals v. The Cochran Firm case. Instead of open disclosure, my 86-year-old mother and I now live like Ann Frank or runaway slaves sequestered in our home for safety because I write about the secret arrest and wrongful death of Larry Neal, a mentally ill heart patient.

The video at the link below shows a tragic "police meets schizophrenic black man" incident that was recently caught on surveillance video. The police abuse on the video was done in plain view; imagine what sometimes goes on off camera when black mental patients are arrested. Some, like Larry Neal, leave in body bags with no questions allowed.

CAUGHT ON SURVEILLANCE VIDEO -
Mentally Disabled Man Beaten by Police Officer in New Jersey
http://my.nowpublic.com/world/mentally-disabled-man-beaten-police-officer-new-jersey

If you have trouble accessing the link, GOOGLE this: POLICE INVESTIGATE PASSAIC BEATING TAPE

Despite the danger and terrorism I face for doing so, my 86-year-old mother and I continue to ask about Larry, and many people have joined my family in asking for a USDOJ investigation into Larry’s death. We request DOG JUSTICE. http://www.petitiononline.com/Neal/petition.html

Mary Neal
http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com