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Officer convicted in Calif. train station killing

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  • Officer convicted in Calif. train station killing

    Officer convicted in Calif. train station killing
    By GREG RISLING, Associated Press Writer Greg Risling, Associated Press Writer 23 mins ago

    LOS ANGELES – A white former transit officer was convicted of involuntary manslaughter Thursday in the videotaped shooting death of an unarmed black man on an Oakland train platform in an encounter that set off days of rioting in the city.

    Prosecutors had wanted Johannes Mehserle convicted of murdering 22-year-old Oscar Grant, who was shot once in the back as he lay face-down.

    The jury's conviction on the lesser charge raised concerns of a repeat of the unrest that followed the shooting on New Year's Day in 2009. The incident is among the most racially polarizing cases in California since four Los Angeles officers were acquitted in 1992 in the beating of Rodney King.

    Near Oakland City Hall, a crowd moaned and cursed Thursday when they heard the verdict, decrying what they called a lack of justice. By 9 p.m. Thursday, a crowd had broken into a Foot Locker store near downtown Oakland and started taking items, police said.

    Chief Anthony Batts said two to four people had been arrested, and he expected the number to rise.

    Before the incident, Batts had described a mostly peaceful protest, although a small incendiary device had been set off near his department's downtown station. He also said one person suffered a leg injury when "a small portion of the crowd" started throwing rocks and bottles.

    The chief's briefing came as lines of police in riot gear worked to keep the crowd confined to a two-block area in the city's downtown area.

    "There is no need for this. This makes us look like animals. We came here for peace," said Jonathan Trotter, 34, who watched the Foot Locker looters with disappointment. "This is a justification for the verdict."

    Some streets in Oakland had been deserted after workers went home early in anticipation of possible riots.

    The anger is directed at the involuntary manslaughter conviction — the lowest offense Mehserle faced. The charge carries a sentence of two to four years, although the judge could add 10 more years because a gun was used in the killing.

    "My son was murdered! He was murdered! He was murdered," said Grant's mother, Wanda Johnson, who earlier stared at jurors when the verdict was read.

    Mehserle was taken away in handcuffs. He turned to his family and mouthed, "I love you, guys," as his parents wept.

    One female juror wiped tears with a tissue when the panel was polled on its decision.

    The verdict followed a three-week trial in which prosecutors played videos by bystanders, and witnesses recounted hearing the frightening gunshot that killed Grant.

    At least five bystanders videotaped the incident

    Mehserle, 28, testified that he struggled with Grant and saw him digging in his pocket as officers responded to reports of a fight at a train station. Fearing Grant may have a weapon, Mehserle said he decided to shock Grant with his Taser but pulled his .40-caliber handgun instead.

    Grant has become a martyr of sorts in a city where more than a third of residents are black. His omnipresent image on buildings and storefront windows arguably rivals that of slain hometown rapper Tupac Shakur.

    The trial was moved from Alameda County to Los Angeles because of racial tension and extensive media coverage in Oakland.

    Alameda County District Attorney Nance E. O'Malley said in a statement that while the jury did not agree with the prosecution's belief that it was murder, the panel also rejected the defense contention that Mehserle had no criminal liability.

    "The case is a tragedy in every respect. Oscar Grant should never have been killed at the hands of a sworn officer," O'Malley said.

    The case was a rare instance in which a police officer stood trial for an on-duty killing and that was captured on video from so many different angles.

    The jury had a choice between murder and lesser charges of voluntary and involuntary manslaughter. The jury found that Mehserle didn't mean to kill Grant, but that his behavior was still so negligent that it was criminal.

    "It's not real, it's not real. Where's the justice? He was killed in cold blood," 23-year-old Amber Royal of Oakland said as a crowd near City Hall moaned and cursed when they heard the verdict. A dozen people gathered in a semicircle to pray.

    Grant family attorney John Burris said they were "extremely disappointed" with the verdict.

    "This verdict is not a true representation of what happened to Oscar Grant. This was not an involuntary manslaughter case," Burris said.

    Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a statement urging Californians to remain calm and not resort to violence. Schwarzenegger said he had informed Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums the state was well prepared to assist in maintaining order.

    "As we have come to notice, and we as a family has been slapped in the face by a system that has denied us a right to true justice," said Cephus Johnson, Grant's uncle. "We truly do not blame the jury, but we blame the system."

    Legal experts said the verdict shows the jury sympathized with Mehserle's version of events.

    Prosecutors had a huge hurdle to overcome in convincing a jury that an officer with a spotless record meant to kill, even with video of the killing, said University of California, Berkeley, law school professor Erin Murphy.

    "I think it's a lesson that video can only get us so far," Murphy said.

    Defense attorney Michael Rains contended the shooting was a tragic accident. Mehserle had no motive to shoot Grant, even though he was resisting arrest, the lawyer argued.

    Rains also said Mehserle told a colleague before the shooting: "Tony, Tony, Tony, I can't get his hands. I'm going to Tase him."

    Rains did not respond to calls seeking comment.

    Fallout from the shooting was swift in Oakland after the videos were shown on television and the Internet. The shooting and the nearly two weeks it took to arrest Mehserle sent the city into a tailspin of violence as downtown businesses were damaged, cars were set ablaze and clashes erupted between protesters and police.

    Grant had recently been released from jail after being sentenced to 16 months for a gun possession charge filed after he ran from police and was subdued by an officer with a stun gun.

    The jury included eight women and four men. None listed their race as black. Seven said they were white, three were Latino, and one was Asian-Pacific. One declined to state their race.

    ___

    Associated Press Writer Terry Collins in Oakland contributed to this report.
    To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

  • #2
    What if he were white, resisted arrest, and shot by a black policeman?
    "Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by gunnut View Post
      What if he were white, resisted arrest, and shot by a black policeman?
      I'd think he got what's fair. There has to be consequences for shooting an unarmed guy.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by gunnut View Post
        What if he were white, resisted arrest, and shot by a black policeman?
        Given the video evidence, most likely the same outcome.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by citanon View Post
          I'd think he got what's fair. There has to be consequences for shooting an unarmed guy.
          I don't dispute the verdict. I have a problem with the reaction of a certain group of people.
          "Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by ZekeJones View Post
            Given the video evidence, most likely the same outcome.
            Black people looting a Footlocker store?

            Or white people looting a Footlocker store?
            "Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

            Comment


            • #7
              Listen, if you're going to riot, you need proper footwear...
              Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

              Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

              Comment


              • #8
                Yesterday a NG friend of mine was told to be ready in case there was rioting in LA.
                Last edited by sappersgt; 09 Jul 10,, 22:59.
                Reddite igitur quae sunt Caesaris Caesari et quae sunt Dei Deo
                (Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things which are God's)

                Comment


                • #9
                  Good advise, especially for the city's policemen as well.

                  California looks like a nasty place to live.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by indus creed View Post
                    Good advise, especially for the city's policemen as well.

                    California looks like a nasty place to live.
                    Correction: Oakland and LA look like nasty places to live. Other parts of California aren't that bad.

                    What do Oakland and LA have in common?
                    "Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      gunnut,

                      What do Oakland and LA have in common?
                      poor urban planning and poor governance. what did you have in mind?
                      There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by astralis View Post
                        gunnut,

                        poor urban planning and poor governance. what did you have in mind?
                        Both are dominated by liberals and socialists.
                        "Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          So is San Francisco, you don't hear about riots in SF...
                          Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

                          Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by bigross86 View Post
                            So is San Francisco, you don't hear about riots in SF...
                            San Francisco has other problems.
                            "Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              I agree with you there, especially that soda ban thing,
                              Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

                              Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

                              Comment

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