http://news.yahoo.com/s/a...n_shooting

OAKLAND, Calif. – A former transit officer has been charged with murder in the shooting death of an unarmed black man that set off violent protests, officials said Wednesday.

Johannes Mehserle, 27, was arrested Tuesday in Nevada and on Wednesday appeared briefly in court, where he waived extradition to California. He was expected to be returned to California later Wednesday.

Witnesses said Mehserle, who is white, fired a shot into the back of 22-year-old Oscar Grant while the man was lying face down on a train platform at a station in Oakland. Grant and others had been pulled off a train after reports of fighting, as New Year's Eve revelers were shuttling home after midnight.

Alameda Country District Attorney Tom Orloff said he would not speculate on whether the charge would end up being first-degree murder or second-degree murder.

"At this point, what I feel the evidence indicates, is an unlawful killing done by an intentional act and from the evidence we have there's nothing that would mitigate that to something lower than a murder," Orloff said at a news conference announcing the charge.

Mehserle's attorney, Christopher Miller, planned a news conference later Wednesday at his office in Sacramento.

The shooting, captured on cell phone cameras and widely viewed on the Internet, has inflamed long-running tensions between law enforcement authorities and many African-American residents.

Hundreds of people have taken to the streets calling for the prosecution of Mehserle, with one rally last week spiraling into violence that resulted in more than 100 arrests and damage to dozens of businesses.

Another demonstration was planned Wednesday afternoon.

Mehserle surrendered without incident Tuesday at a family friend's house in an upscale neighborhood on the east shore of Lake Tahoe in Douglas County, Nev., law enforcement officials said.

Douglas County Undersheriff Paul Howell said he believes Mehserle went to Nevada for his own safety.

"He just wanted to get out of the Bay Area due to the magnitude of the incident," Howell said. "He wasn't trying to run."

John Burris, the attorney for Grant's family, said the news of the charge was "terrific."

"It is consistent with the evidence I have seen. I think the family will be pleased," Burris said.

Mehserle had refused to talk to Bay Area Regional Transit investigators before resigning last week.

"I want to know why he did it," said BART board member Carole Ward Allen. "We've heard from everybody else but him. While I can't speak for the entire BART board, we want to make this process as transparent as possible."

State Attorney General Jerry Brown assigned a prosecutor to monitor the case, and the U.S. Department of Justice sent mediators to help avert additional violent demonstrations.
[Edited 1/14/09 13:36pm]

This is bizarre. They go from ignoring it completely to arresting for murder. I'm glad that they are holding him accountable but I think it really was an accident, a panic fueled situation. Hope the city can heal from this and that justice is served.

Good. I hope this bitch-made muthafucka burns in hell.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

i'm sorry supa but how can you look at that and say it was an accident?

Vendetta1 said:

I'm saying I think it was knee jerk. You could see the gravity of the situation come over him as he realized. I still think he should be held to accoun.t

.
[Edited 1/14/09 14:23pm]

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

One word in that sentence is right.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Really? i would think it was a knee jerk if i didn't look at the guy holding the guy down and struggling to pull out his weapon with his other hand.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

None of that means it's not murder. Accidental is not a pass. Drunk drivers don't drive drunk with the intent to kill someone either.

SCNDLS said:

Did I say that? Let's not even get started OK.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Dude, don't make me take my earrings off and get some Vaseline, I'm just pointing that out. Okay????

SCNDLS said:

Then don't lecture me

I am NOT defending the cop and I think he's a fucking idiot for being that out of control of himself with a weapon but I don't believe that he was maliciously trying to kill the kid in cold blood. I do think it was something that escalated during a moment of panic. I think he should definitely be held accountable as any of us would if it were reversed and Bart needs to probably train these guys to be better at crisis management.

Just to be clear...



I can't see that he "intended to kill" Oscar Grant, to me, IMHO, I didn't read that from Mehserle's body language after the shot was fired.



There is no question that he is guilty of killing an innocent unarmed man but how the prosecution, jury & court sort out the details remains to be seen.

RenHoek said:

The bolded part IMO is clearly indicative of murder in this case because of the fact that the victim is face down and held down. I'm not buying the body language argument either because in ANY situation when you pull out a gun and pull the trigger you know that a likely outcome of that action is killing somebody.

I disagree Ren. The guy was on the ground in handcuffs with other cops surrounding. Oscar was not a threat.

Vendetta1 said:

I agree completely, Oscar was NOT a threat, and he was surrounded by at least 4 officers.

However, it is still unclear if he was actually handcuffed or not. All the news articles I've read and reports I've watched state "restrained". That could simply imply that he was being held down.

I'm standing by my previous statement, which until I'm proven wrong, is this...

There is no question that he is guilty of killing an innocent unarmed man but how the court sorts out the details remains to be seen. Ex-Officer Mehserle is guilty of a crime, there is no question of that, but to what extent.

As of 3:42PM today...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi...15A6O2.DTL

RenHoek said:

Unlawful and intentional. Says it all.

Vendetta1 said:

I said that from day one in the other thread..... the cop did it deliberately, he refuses to even comment on why he did it... cause.. he did it on purpose.. a person who is sincerely sorry would say they didn't mean it.... and this cop is saying NOTHING.. neither are his attorneys...

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

So this is posted here and in P&R. Okay, anyway, I have no sorrow for the son-of-a-b*tch. He shot an unarmed human being for no reason. Punk.
[Edited 1/14/09 18:35pm]

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Basically they need to do a better and more extensive job of psychological testing, on all candidates before hiring them.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Supa, wait a minute... you have a dude face down on the ground, who was hand cuffed behind his back (and you see this on the tape)... where is there any moment of panic for the police? there were other cops there over the guy as well... nobody or any of the cops were being threatened .. why should anyone have panicked with a hand cuffed guy on the ground ?

2elijah said:

Well, it's hard to test for "Fear of a Black Man".

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

I understand why you might say it is a knee jerk reaction, but the charge is murder because it was premeditated with no evidence of self-defense or fear of one's life or the life of another.

I also disagree that it is knee jerk. There was no need for either the Tazer or a loaded gun.
If a Tazer is that similar to a handgun that is a design flaw and the decedent's family should sue the manufacturer of Tazers.

But, it begs the question, of why hasn't anyone heard of that happening?
We hear of Tazer deaths, which shouldn't happen (and has to be stopped) but no one suggests that they shot someone in the back because they thought they were discharging their Tazer, not their handgun.

I haven't seen the tape, but from what I've read and heard from all those who have . . . I can't understand how this could happen but I have my suspicions . . .

RenHoek said:

He fits the posted definition of murder.
Read my post below.

RenHoek said:

Murder, First degree, Maybe special circumstance? (Under color of authority?)

My question in all this is - why are BART police armed with guns at all? Aren't they just supposed to be security guards?

eaglebear4839 said:

No, they are straight up cops. BART is an independent governmental entity, just like a city. BART stations and tracks are under the jurisdiction of BART, not the cities they are located in. It's the same with the University of California and California State campuses. The BART cops and the college cops have the same authority to arrest as any city or county cop.

eaglebear4839 said:

Nope...BART police deal with the exact same crimes as police do in every city in the Bay Area. BART has over 40 stations that run through over 30 cities (including Oakland and San Francisco) in several counties.

Flowers2 said:

Maybe I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. I don't know. I can't imagine that he just pulled out his gun with the intention and thought "I'm going to kill this man". Maybe he's crazy and he did. Him remaining silent is way more incriminating.

In the video, even though he's on his stomach and they are restraining him, you do see all kinds of physical activity. Who know what this man was thinking but I would like to believe he felt for some reason the gun was needed or that he grabbed the wrong weapon.

Who knows, he's in custody and I'm sure they'll fry him. they have no other choice really.

There's no question that the guy shot & killed an unarmed man who didn't deserve it.

What's unclear to me is if he meant to do it. It looked like the situation was under control, so why would he have felt the need to shoot the guy, especially with witnesses & cameras running? It's hard for me to tell, but they all seem to look surprised that it happened, the way they all stand up all of the sudden.

But maybe he's psychotic. Maybe he deliberately shot the guy in the back. That seems to be what they now think, based on the murder charge.

But I think that's why it took so long to charge him. They knew he killed the guy (that's painfully obvious), but they had to determine what to charge him with, murder or manslaughter.

I don't know, the whole thing is terrible and I'm not loving that even now that he's charged with murder that people are still doing stupid shit like smashing windows a mile from my home.