Cop who shot Oscar Grant testifies & says he grabbed gun instead of Taser by mistake

stringer bell
stringer bell Members Posts: 26,212 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited June 2010 in The Social Lounge
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_15377587?nclick_check=1
BART officer said he grabbed gun instead of Taser by mistake

A former Bay Area Rapid Transit officer accused of killing a man at an Oakland train station testified today that he mistakenly grabbed his handgun instead of his Taser while trying to subdue the man.

"I thought it was my Taser," Johannes Mehserle, 28, said during his trial in downtown Los Angeles.

Mehserle, who is white, is charged with murder for the New Year's Day 2009 shooting of 22-year-old Oscar Grant, who was black. The racially charged case was moved to Los Angeles for trial due to extensive publicity in the Bay Area.

Testifying in his own defense, Mehserle described for jurors his struggle with Grant, saying he was standing over the man trying to handcuff him. Mehserle said Grant was on his knees then fell to the ground.

"My main focus was his hands," Mehserle said. "I was trying to get him handcuffed," but "his right hand was underneath him."

He said he was "repeatedly telling him to give me his hand.

At that point, however, Mehserle saw Grant reach into his right pocket, he testified. Mehserle told jurors he had been involved in past cases when people carried small handguns in their pocket.

"I remember the digging motion with his right hand, like he was looking for something," Mehserle said. "I made the decision at that point to Tase him.

"... It made me question what his intentions were. I knew the right front pocket was where people kept guns."

Mehserle said he told Grant he was going to Taser him, after which Mehserle stood up and backed away from Grant and reached for the Taser. He said he didn't realize he was grabbing his gun instead of the Taser.
He said he wound up firing one shot.

During his testimony, Mehserle appeared to be fighting back tears, prompting a spectator in the courtroom to stand up and shout, "Save those tears, dude" -- drawing applause from Grant's relatives.

As the spectator was walking out of the courtroom, Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry ordered him arrested, and sheriff's deputies took the man into custody.

Before today's court session began, Perry scheduled a contempt hearing for Anyi Howell, who said he was a reporter for Youth Radio. Perry said Howell may have been recording the court proceedings on Thursday, a violation of the judge's rules.

Howell was barred from the trial but was ordered to return at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday for a contempt hearing.
...............

Comments

  • DarcSkies777
    DarcSkies777 Members Posts: 5,600 ✭✭✭
    edited June 2010
    He has a good lawyer. Pigs have practiced this numerous times.

    Establish a history of violent acts to make the jury think you had reason to be afraid: "I remember the digging motion"

    Establish that it was a dangerous ni99er savage that refused to cooperate because he's violent: "I was trying to get him handcuffed," but "his right hand was underneath him."

    Jury will be sympathetic especially since he gave them some, "I'm sorry I got in trouble" tears. I'm sure the jury is mostly white looking for any reason to let him get away with murdering a black man and they got one.
  • anduin
    anduin Members Posts: 1,080 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited June 2010
    how do you mistake taser for 9 mil, I call BS
  • Alpha_Ambition
    Alpha_Ambition Members Posts: 9,698 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited June 2010
    Cops never get convicted, hell barely fired, they get to resign and keep their pensions SMH
  • stringer bell
    stringer bell Members Posts: 26,212 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited June 2010
    http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gT6GJGL3quMPjCe1oU1W2zvpFfcAD9GIKPL80
    Former Calif. officer says he pulled wrong weapon
    By GREG RISLING (AP) – 35 minutes ago

    LOS ANGELES — A former San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer testified Friday 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.

    In an emotional courtroom session marked by a spectator's outburst, Johannes Mehserle broke down in tears as he told jurors in his murder trial that he heard a pop and thought the Taser had malfunctioned.

    "I remember the pop that wasn't very loud. It wasn't like a gunshot. I remember wondering what went wrong with the Taser. I thought it malfunctioned," he said.

    Mehserle, who previously testified that earlier in the incident he had pulled out his Taser twice, said he only thought of using the stun weapon.

    "It was the only option that crossed my mind," he said. "Given the situation, the backdrop, the thought of using my gun never entered my head."

    Mehserle, who is white, has pleaded not guilty to murdering 22-year-old Oscar Grant on New Year's Day 2009. The trial was moved to Los Angeles from Alameda County because of intense media coverage and racial tensions. Mehserle resigned shortly after the shooting.

    Mehserle's face grew red, his voice dropped and he tried to hold back tears as he testified. Grant's mother, Wanda Johnson, left the courtroom as the defendant cried.

    Moments later, a spectator walking out of the courtroom shouted, "Maybe you should save those (expletive) tears, dude!"

    Superior Court Judge Robert Perry asked sheriff's deputies to arrest the man, who was placed in handcuffs and taken away. Timothy Killings was arrested for investigation of disorderly behavior in any court of justice, a misdemeanor.

    Mehserle's mother also was in the courtroom and sobbed.

    Mehserle, 28, had maintained a public silence for 18 months about what led him to shoot Grant until he took the witness stand in a surprise move Thursday. His testimony over two days lasted for more that six hours. Mehserle, who stands 6 feet, 4 inches, held his mother and other supporters in long embraces as he cried after getting off the witness stand.

    On direct examination by his attorney Michael Rains, Mehserle told jurors that he struggled to restrain Grant while he was on his stomach and repeatedly told him, "Give me your hands." Mehserle testified that he saw Grant digging his right hand into his right pocket and thought he might be going for a gun. He tugged on Grant's right arm but wasn't finding success.

    "I made a decision at that point to tase him," Mehserle said. "It made me question what his intentions were."

    Mehserle said he remembered saying, "I'm going to tase him," and stood up looking down at Grant to see where on Grant's back he could discharge his weapon.

    After he fired the handgun, Mehserle said he was in disbelief at what had just happened. He said he heard a lot of yelling, presumably from Grant's friends and a crowded train of onlookers, some of who took video of the shooting.

    "I remember Mr. Grant saying, '"You shot me,'" Mehserle recalled as he lips quivered trying to fight back tears.

    Mehserle said he looked at Grant, who he said had grown hysterical, and tried to calm him down. At one point, Mehserle said he saw Grant's eyes close. Rains asked him what he thought at that moment.

    "I was scared because this wasn't supposed to happen," he said.

    Mehserle added he had Grant's blood on his hands and he was later taken to headquarters where he sat in a room and had time to comprehend his actions. Mehserle said he was "devastated."

    Rains concluded the questioning by asking Mehserle what he intended to do when he shot Grant.

    "I didn't intended to shoot Mr. Grant," Mehserle said as he looked at the jurors.

    "What was your intention?" Rains asked.

    "To tase him," Mehserle replied.

    Prosecutors say Mehserle intended to shoot Grant, and that Mehserle used his handgun because officers were losing control of the situation. Mehserle wore his stun gun on his front left side the night of the shooting, while his handgun was mounted on his right hip.

    On cross-examination, Alameda County Deputy District Attorney David Stein peppered Mehserle with questions about the potential danger of trying to get Grant's hand out of his pocket if the defendant thought he may have a gun. Stein pointed out that officers are trained to yell out "gun!" if they see a weapon.

    "If I knew 100 percent he had a gun I would have said it," Mehserle said.

    Stein also wondered why Mehserle put his gun in his holster after the shooting if he still considered Grant "a lethal threat."

    "My gun was never supposed to be out," Mehserle said.

    Stein asked why Mehserle had never mentioned to other officers that the shooting was accidental. He played video from a BART security camera that appears to show Mehserle and other officers talking on the platform minutes after Grant is shot.

    "You never told anyone it was an accident?" Stein asked.

    "No, sir," Mehserle responded.

    "You never told anyone you meant to pull your Taser, did you?" Stein quickly followed up.

    "No, sir," Mehserle said.

    Outside of court, Grant's uncle, Cephus "Bobby" Johnson said if Mehserle had apologized for what happened, he wouldn't be sure it was genuine.

    "It would be questionable if it was truthful or not," Johnson said.
    .............
  • stringer bell
    stringer bell Members Posts: 26,212 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited June 2010
    http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_15378712
    Telephone tip line among plans for Mehserle verdict aftermath

    OAKLAND — A telephone tip line will be activated today for anyone wanting to provide authorities with information concerning potential problems that might occur in the city after the verdict is announced in the murder trial of Johannes Mehserle, the former BART police officer charged with killing Oscar Grant III.

    City officials on Friday also issued a community bulletin offering steps to help keep the city safe and how to get the most up-to-date information when the verdict is reached in Los Angeles.

    Even though a verdict is not expected until late next week at the earliest, police and city officials have been holding meetings, and police conducting crowd-control and arrest-training exercises to prepare for any contingencies, including riots and acts of vandalism, such as those that plagued the city after Grant was fatally shot Jan. 1, 2009, at the Fruitvale BART station.

    Oakland police, the Alameda County Sheriff's Office, the California Highway Patrol and BART police will be the main law enforcement agencies dealing with crowds and potential illegal activity. They will be able to request mutual aid if necessary from police agencies throughout the Bay Area.

    Police Department spokeswoman Officer Holly Joshi said the 510-777-8814 tip line, which will be answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week, is for people to call in tips, rumors and information related to preplanned, current or ongoing anarchist activities, protests or civil disobedience related to the verdict.

    Voice mail will be activated if the line is busy so callers can leave detailed information about individuals, locations, dates and times of such activities. If callers want to be contacted by police, they can leave their names and phone numbers.

    Joshi said that although downtown was the site of most of the problems after Grant's death, police are aware demonstrations could occur throughout the city.

    Police are urging residents and businesspeople to use television and radio stations and newspaper websites for information after the verdict, to park cars in secure locations the day of the verdict, and to remove or secure large trash receptacles. For crimes in progress, call 911 or, if using a cell phone, 510-777-3211. To report suspicious activity, call the police nonemergency number, 510-777-3333.

    People also can get updates on the city's website, www.oaklandnet.com. To receive emergency alerts by e-mail or a wireless device, subscribe to the police alert system by selecting "emergency alerts" under "Email Updates" on the city's home page.

    People can follow events at Twitter.com/oaklandpoliceca. Anyone who does not have access to a computer can get information and recorded updates by calling 510-444-CITY (2489).

    The information bulletin contains a joint statement from Mayor Ron Dellums and police Chief Anthony Batts.

    It says in part: "We are dedicated to ensuring the safe expressions of emotions during this difficult time. We understand that the community is grieving and we are in this together. We will get through this together. We are asking the community to come together, look out for one another and stay safe. We will not tolerate destruction or violence."
    ...............
  • BethlehemBill
    BethlehemBill Members Posts: 140
    edited June 2010
    mistakes happen
  • Swiffness!
    Swiffness! Members Posts: 10,128 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited June 2010
    whoops, my bad
  • stringer bell
    stringer bell Members Posts: 26,212 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited June 2010
    mistakes happen

    you actually believe his story...
  • janklow
    janklow Members, Moderators Posts: 8,613 Regulator
    edited June 2010
    this isn't the worst claim you could make and it does include some plausible elements (such as how they carry their Tasers). that said, i don't understand how someone can claim with a straight face that the Tasers BART uses (X-26) feel like the service handguns BART uses (which i believe are .40 S&W P226s); the trigger is clearly different, the shape and feel of the grip are clearly different. and if you don't agree with them being so similar, the story seems weak.

    prediction: this cop gets off with a slap on the wrist
  • stringer bell
    stringer bell Members Posts: 26,212 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited June 2010
    http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bart-20100627,0,2498316,full.story
    Racially charged Oakland case nears its completion in L.A.
    A white BART officer's trial in the shooting death of a black man draws comparisons with the beating of Rodney King. Both were recorded on widely viewed video and stirred strong emotions.

    The grainy videos of the killing have been played over and over in a Los Angeles courtroom.

    On two large television screens, a white transit police officer is shown reaching for his holster as he struggles with a black man lying face-down on an Oakland train station platform. The officer draws his handgun and fires a single bullet into the man's back.

    The images, captured by witnesses, lie at the center of a rare criminal trial in which a police officer is charged with murder for an on-duty shooting. The jury, which could begin deliberating as early as this week, must decide whether the shooting was intentional or, as the officer contends, a tragic mistake.

    The footage has shaped the racially charged case from the beginning and has drawn strong comparisons with the videotaped beating of Rodney G. King that ultimately triggered riots in Los Angeles nearly two decades ago.

    Like the King case, the New Year's Day 2009 shooting of Oscar J. Grant III provoked outrage and fueled debate about race and police abuse. It unleashed angry protests and violence in Oakland, where minority fears of police brutality have historically run deep.

    Excerpts of videos taken by train passengers have been broadcast countless times by Bay Area television news stations. The trial was moved to Los Angeles amid concern about the extensive media coverage.

    "The thing that was significant about the Rodney King case was that it was there for all the world to see. That's the same with this case," said Robert C. Smith, a political science professor at San Francisco State. "People have a sense that they saw it, that they were a witness to it."

    More than a year later, emotions still run high.

    Oakland police and city leaders fear the possibility of violence when a verdict is announced.

    Last week, the city's Police Department simulated a riot to help officers prepare for unrest. Meeting areas are being set up for residents to peacefully express their feelings about the verdict. And preachers have agreed to urge calm.

    "Whatever the verdict, it's sure to raise a lot of emotion. It touches an issue that's very deep in the community," said city spokeswoman Karen Boyd.

    A spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department said special preparations were in the works for any post-verdict crowd gathering outside the downtown criminal courts building, but he declined to elaborate.

    "We are not going to go into any sort of detail on our planning other than to confirm that we are working with court security and are prepared to handle any gathering of crowds outside of the courthouse, when a verdict is returned," said Lt. John Romero.

    The shooting happened before dawn as Bay Area Rapid Transit police responded to reports of a fight on a train packed with New Year's Eve revelers. Several passengers in the train, which was stopped at the Fruitvale Station, began recording the events on video as a police officer appeared to manhandle Grant, 22, and a group of his friends.

    Among the BART police officers who arrived to help was Johannes Mehserle, a 6-foot-4-inch, 250-pound cop who had been on the job less than two years.

    Alameda County prosecutors allege that Mehserle, then 26, fired the fatal shot deliberately after an ugly confrontation between Grant and a fellow officer. Grant, a grocery store butcher, was unarmed.

    Mehserle told jurors that he intended to use an electric Taser weapon on his belt during a struggle to handcuff Grant but mistakenly drew his handgun.

    The case has drawn strong interest from police officers around the state who are concerned that prosecutors overreacted to a tragic but honest mistake, said Ron Cottingham, president of the Peace Officers Research Assn. of California. A murder conviction, he said, could have a ripple effect on how officers respond to threats in the field.

    "Any time you have to use deadly force, it's going to cause you to pause. And you don't have a lot of time to pause," said Cottingham, whose group's legal defense fund is paying for Mehserle's defense.

    The start of the trial stirred controversy earlier this month when no blacks were selected for the jury. The five-man, seven-woman panel is made up of seven whites, four Latinos and a man who declined to identify his race on a juror questionnaire.

    Courtroom security has been tight.

    Each morning, jurors gather at a secret location and are taken as a group by bus to the courthouse, a court spokesman said. They eat lunch in a back room and are returned to the same undisclosed location at the end of the day's testimony.

    For more than two weeks, jurors have been shown scenes from the station platform numerous times from multiple angles. Each side argues that the videos support its account of what caused the shooting.

    The prosecution contends that the recordings are powerful evidence of police officers creating "chaos, distrust, disorder."

    Train passengers testified that the first BART officer at the scene, Anthony Pirone, used excessive force on Grant and his friends even though the men were largely cooperative. In one video, Pirone can be heard yelling a racial slur at Grant, an insult the officer says he was repeating after Grant used it.

    Alameda County Deputy Dist. Atty. David R. Stein rejected the possibility of a mistake by Mehserle.

    Mehserle pulled out his Taser — a bright yellow weapon that delivers a powerful shock — twice on the station platform without incident. The last photo Grant took with his cellphone is of Mehserle holding his electric weapon.

    The officer's holster, a firearms trainer noted, was specially designed to prevent easy release of his handgun, requiring an officer to remove a rotating hood on top and then push back a lever with a thumb to draw the weapon. Mehserle kept his firearm on his right hip and his Taser on his left side, though its holster was positioned for a right-hand draw.

    Stein showed the jury a video frame in which Mehserle appears to be looking at his holster as he draws his firearm.

    "Aggression takes over for training," the prosecutor told jurors. "That reaction resulted in the death of an innocent man."

    But defense attorney Michael L. Rains responded that his client made a terrible mistake in drawing his firearm instead of his Taser, one that at least half a dozen other officers have made in the heat of a confrontation.

    BART officers were given Tasers less than a month before the shooting and had only six hours of training, raising the chances of an accident, according to defense experts.

    Rains says the video exonerates his client.

    In a painstaking analysis of often-blurry images, a defense expert testified that none of the officers used excessive force but that one of the victim's friends extended a hand toward Mehserle.

    Rains argued that the recordings capture Mehserle struggling to handcuff an uncooperative Grant and then having difficulty drawing his handgun from its holster because he believed he was reaching for his Taser. After the gunshot, footage shows the officer replacing his weapon and putting his hands on his head as if in disbelief.

    Mehserle broke his silence for the first time last week, tearfully telling jurors he intended to draw his Taser because he feared Grant was reaching for a gun in his right front jeans pocket. Instead, he said, he withdrew his firearm.

    It was a mistake, he said, that continues to haunt him.
    ...............
  • stringer bell
    stringer bell Members Posts: 26,212 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited June 2010
    http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/06/27/MNGE1E5I6E.DTL&tsp=1
    Mehserle on stand: Emotion, integrity in focus

    When Johannes Mehserle took the witness stand at his murder trial last week, it was as if a wave washed over a beach, changing and reshaping everything.

    Lawyers had spent 10 painstaking days trying to establish every detail of their argument - either that the former BART police officer shot train rider Oscar Grant for no good reason, or that he made a tragic mistake. Experts were consulted, documents read, videos played, guns and holsters examined, and eyewitnesses grilled.

    Then, all of a sudden, the only thing that seemed to matter was what Mehserle said, how he sounded when he said it, and how the lawyers sounded when they tried to get him to say what they wanted him to say.

    After Mehserle's seven-hour appearance ended Friday, there were two questions: Did Mehserle murder Grant? And now that he was a human being with a voice, was he the type who could murder Grant?

    For the most part, the 28-year-old was calm, comfortable and careful, and he came across as the young and inexperienced officer that he is - or was. He often paused after questions, formulating his answers.

    He cried almost every time he talked about the first moments after he shot Grant - a 22-year-old Hayward resident - in the back. Every time he did, a protest of faint muttering would emerge from Grant's relatives and supporters in the gallery. They, too, were a factor in his testimony.

    Emotions in check
    Judge Robert Perry was wary of letting emotion or stagecraft overwhelm Mehserle's explanation for killing Grant - that he thought he had his Taser in his hand when he shot him while trying to handcuff him on Jan. 1, 2009, that "the thought of my gun never came into the equation."

    Perry told defense attorney Michael Rains to speed things up as he asked Mehserle for childhood memories, and he later cut him off - "That's too much, Mr. Rains" - when he tried to drill deeper into his client's grief.

    Prosecutor David Stein at one point started to crank up an attack, but Perry admonished him: "Lower your voice." He later stopped Stein from asking Mehserle if he ever felt compelled to apologize to Grant's family.

    Perry was most stern with the gallery, where a Grant supporter was arrested after telling Mehserle to "save those f-ing tears." The judge bellowed: "I'll clear the courtroom."

    To the jury, he was equally forceful.

    "You cannot let something like what we observed, an emotional outburst, impact your assessment of the evidence in any way," he said.

    Still, Mehserle's testimony wasn't just a recitation of his account of the shooting, but a journey into theater guided by skilled lawyers. That was clear from the first questions asked by the defense and the prosecution.

    Preparation for trial
    Rains prompted Mehserle to say he was no professional in the witness box - that he had rarely testified in the past, and never in front of a jury. Stein, too, used the topic as a launch point, but this time for an extended assault.

    "How many days have you spent preparing for your testimony in this case?" Stein asked.

    "I'm not sure, sir," Mehserle responded.

    Stein pressed on: Have you talked to other witnesses? Have you reviewed transcripts and police reports and watched video footage? Have your attorneys run you through mock questioning?

    Rains made an objection to the last query, and Perry sustained it. Stein was edging toward confidences protected by the lawyer-client privilege.

    Again, Stein asked: How many hours did you spend preparing?

    This time, Mehserle had an answer - vague but laced with regret. His voice cracking, he said, "I think about this event every single day of my life."

    If Mehserle's polish as a witness was an issue, so was his style as a cop. Stein asked him directly: How big are you?

    Seeking softer image
    Rains tried to soften the 6-foot-5, 250-pounder and distance him from another former BART officer, Anthony Pirone, who had aggressively detained Grant after a fight on a train and told Mehserle to arrest and handcuff him. Pirone's treatment of Grant and four friends had infuriated other BART riders and cost him his job.

    "I was the opposite of him," Mehserle said. He said he became a cop to help people, like he did when he was in previous customer service jobs.

    But Stein dwelled on video footage that shows Pirone, before the shooting, leaning into Grant and shouting, "? -ass n-, right? ? -ass n-, right?" Mehserle was just a couple of feet away, Stein pointed out as he showed jurors not one but two different angles.

    Mehserle admitted he was "pretty close" to Pirone but said, "I don't remember him saying those words."

    "Do you have any trouble hearing it on the video?" Stein asked. Mehserle acknowledged he could hear it clearly on the tape.

    Perhaps the biggest battle was over Mehserle's credibility - whether he could be believed when he said he had a made a historic and fatal blunder. At one point, Rains asked him to actually turn toward the jury to his right, look into their faces, and say he didn't mean to ? Grant.

    There were moments - perhaps legitimate, perhaps designed - when Mehserle sounded honest to a fault.

    For instance, Rains spent much of the trial arguing that, before the shooting, Grant's friend Jackie Bryson had taken a swing at Mehserle. The defense's video expert took the stand and said he saw a movement that was consistent with such a punch, while Stein - and Bryson himself - refuted the allegation.

    When Mehserle was finally asked about it, he said it never happened. That was that.

    Explaining his silence
    Stein, though, suggested Mehserle could not be telling the truth based on his actions in the minutes and hours after the shooting. If it was truly an accident, Stein asked, why didn't you say so then? Again, he rolled video showing Mehserle in a conversation with a colleague minutes after the gunshot.

    "You never told anyone it was an accident, did you?" Stein asked.

    "No sir," Mehserle said.

    Mehserle explained that one reason for his silence was that he had been instructed by superiors and an attorney not to talk about the shooting.

    But Rains didn't want to leave jurors with that. He came right back to the point during his redirect examination - and back to his client's visible anguish over the shooting.

    "What kind of shape were you in?" Rains asked.

    Mehserle responded, "I really just don't remember not crying."
    ...................
  • redhandedbandit
    redhandedbandit Members Posts: 2,600 ✭✭✭
    edited June 2010
    man a taser and a hand gun are two completely different things...regardless even if they say it was an accident he should at least have to do time for manslaughter
  • obnoxiouslyfresh
    obnoxiouslyfresh Members Posts: 11,496 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited June 2010
    From watching the video, I believe him that it was a mistake. He had the "oh ? , i didnt mean to do that look on his face after he shot the kid."

    He should spend the next 35 years in jail for this mistake.
  • ReppinTime
    ReppinTime Members Posts: 4,760 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited June 2010
    Nah nothing wrong with this story, its clearly not a murder.
  • obnoxiouslyfresh
    obnoxiouslyfresh Members Posts: 11,496 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited June 2010
    ReppinTime wrote: »
    Nah nothing wrong with this story, its clearly not a murder.


    shut up *rolls eyes*
  • stringer bell
    stringer bell Members Posts: 26,212 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited June 2010
    http://www.contracostatimes.com/top-stories/ci_15391859
    Police in Bay Area brace for verdict in Mehserle trial

    Bay Area law enforcement officials are mobilizing as a Los Angeles jury is poised to deliver a verdict in the trial of former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle, charged with killing an unarmed man on New Year's Day in 2009.

    Mehserle is accused of first-degree murder in the death of Oscar Grant. His trial is expected to wrap up in the next several days, and the jury could deliver its verdict as early as late this week.

    Linton Johnson, the chief communications officer for BART, said the uncertain timing has complicated preparing a response but that BART police officers will be concentrating on Oakland and San Francisco as areas for potential unrest if Mehserle is found not guilty.

    "That would be the most logical places, we believe, for there to be a reaction," he said.

    In preparation for the verdict, the Oakland Police Department has conducted training exercises for crowd control and riots. Once the jury begins its deliberations, officers will be on standby, and the department is instructing its officers not to take vacation during that time. An Oakland desk officer added that departments around the Bay Area are also preparing to act when the verdict arrives.

    Police are also monitoring fliers, notices and social networking websites, including Twitter and Facebook, in an attempt to gain early notice of mass gatherings or public events.

    "We're doing a lot of intelligence work," Johnson said.

    Mehserle shot Grant once in the back as he was being arrested at the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland. Grant died of his injuries hours later.

    Mehserle last week testified that he accidentally pulled out his gun rather than his Taser, which he said he had intended to use on Grant.

    The trial was moved to Los Angeles because of concerns from Mehserle's lawyers about securing an impartial jury. Grant was African-American, and the jury in Los Angeles has no blacks.

    In the weeks after Grant was killed, protests turned into riots in parts of Oakland. At least 40 businesses were vandalized, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars of property damage. More than 100 demonstrators were arrested.

    Officials and other community members worry that if Mehserle is acquitted, the verdict could provoke a similar, or even intensified, reaction.

    "It's such an unpredictable situation," said Nicole Lee, executive director of the Urban Peace Movement. "On all sides, everyone is sort of bracing. "... It's going to be a very emotionally charged situation."

    Lee said that she and others who work with Oakland youth are encouraging composure and critical thinking leading up to the verdict but added that "we're not under any illusion that we can control everything that happens in the city."

    Authorities have also reached out to local community leaders, including ministers, in advance of any planned demonstrations, according to Holly Joshi, an Oakland police spokeswoman.

    Identifying key planners for events or demonstrations is proving challenging, however, amid what Johnson called a "fluid situation."

    Johnson said that the priority of BART police will be to allow travelers to get "from Point A to Point B safely," emphasizing that those concerned about any disruption to BART should sign up for text and e-mail alerts through the agency's website.

    He added that BART expects to have enough people to "handle what comes at us" and that officers will be under no special instructions for conduct in responding to any rally or demonstration, even in a charged situation.

    "They will act in their usual, professional manner," he said.

    Lee said that it is paramount for officers to not "exacerbate tensions" with a disproportionate response.

    "They have to have enough of a presence to be helpful," Lee said. "But we don't want to create a feeling of increased tension and animosity when there's already so much animosity."

    According to Johnson, BART will not attempt to prevent peaceful rallies or demonstrations.

    "Part of upholding the law is allowing people to engage in free speech," he said.

    Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and Police Chief Anthony Batts issued a joint statement Friday, emphasizing the need for calm. It read in part:

    "We are dedicated to ensuring the safe expressions of emotions during this difficult time. We understand that the community is grieving, and we are in this together. We will get through this together. We are asking the community to come together, look out for one another and stay safe. We will not tolerate destruction or violence."
    .............
  • c_gutta1
    c_gutta1 Members Posts: 87
    edited June 2010
    Who tazes someone in the back of their head?


    ? ass police!
  • darknight
    darknight Members Posts: 185
    edited June 2010
    For a dude that wants a career in law enforcement I would say, ? his mistake and give him 25 years. Its cool he didnt mean to do it but regardless he is a appointed peace officer who basically killed a person for no reason. Unacceptable, point blank period.