LE shoots man in the back when cuffed and down

Looks like they're charging him with murder. I don't think his chances are good regardless of what actually happened. What are the chances of finding a jury that isn't all fired up over the incident already? If he's lucky they'll give him some kind of manslaughter plea.
 
I know many dark skinned folks that are not on welfare.The point I was making is that wellies many times have too much time on their hands to stay out all night long and raise hell.People that work have to get bed time.I admit to being a welfareist.You don't hear that word too often because it doesen't roll off the tip of the tongue like the R word.If I had to lable you,I would prob call you a Leoist.

This happen on News Years Eve!

You either knew that, and think that anyone out on New Years Eve must be on welfare.

or

You see black people and think they must be on welfare, and came up with a lame excuse to justify your shit reasoning.
 
Looks like they're charging him with murder. I don't think his chances are good regardless of what actually happened. What are the chances of finding a jury that isn't all fired up over the incident already? If he's lucky they'll give him some kind of manslaughter plea.

I think the charge is appropriate, but they might have a difficult time finding an impartial jury.
 
This development is quite interesting.

The LEO quits his job and bails the area to the Lake Tahoe Nevada area.

The DA seems to agree with the charge of MURDER.

Maybe there are some decent people in Law Enforcement in California..


I think the charge is appropriate, but they might have a difficult time finding an impartial jury.
 
Looks to me like plain old negligent homicide.

But you guys know damn well if that had been a citizen instead of a cop, they would be charged with murder one.

See? You just need a piece of pretty jewelry and a dark blue uniform from the government and you can murder people with impunity. Well, you'll probably scoot by with just a manslaughter or negligent homicide charge.
 
BART Cop shooting update

Defense: BART Shooting Cop Meant To Use Taser
Friday, January 30, 2009 – updated: 6:37 pm PST January 30, 2009
http://www.ktvu.com/news/18604909/detail.html

OAKLAND, Calif. -- The former BART police officer accused of fatally shooting an unarmed man on a transit station platform told a fellow officer moments before firing his gun that he was going to discharge his Taser, according to a document released Friday.

Johannes Mehserle, 27, was ordered Friday to be held on $3 million bail on charges that he shot Oscar Grant III, a 22-year-old Hayward man, in the back while Grant was lying face down on the ground at the Fruitvale station platform after police responded to reports that there had been a fight on a train.

Mehserle remains in jail Friday evening and has not posted bail contrary to an earlier statement released by the office of Oakland's mayor, an Alameda County sheriff's spokesman said.

Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums' office issued a statement earlier Friday stating that Mehserle had been released from Santa Rita Jail in Dublin after posting bail, but sheriff's Sgt. J.D. Nelson said Mehserle remains in custody.

At the hearing, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson said that he set a high bail of $3 million for former the former BART police officer because he thinks Mehserle gave an "inconsistent story" about why he shot and killed Oscar Grant III at the Fruitvale station in Oakland early New Year's Day.

Jacobson said it appears to him that Mehserle, who is charged with murder in connection with the highly publicized incident, wanted to "make up a story to avoid the consequences of his actions."

At a packed hearing that lasted nearly an hour, Jacobson said Mehserle told fellow BART police officers that he was going to use a Taser on Grant, a 22-year-old Hayward man, but after Mehserle shot Grant he told a colleague, "I thought he had a gun."

The judge said Mehserle's statements "seem to be inconsistent" because if Mehserle truly believed that Grant had a gun then Mehserle would have been justified to pull out his gun and use deadly force and wouldn't have needed to use his Taser.

Jacobson said that because he believes Mehserle hasn't been totally forthcoming about his actions he has "a lack of trust at promises that he will appear for future court hearings."

Before Jacobson ruled on Mehserle's bail motion, the former officer's attorney, Michael Rains, said that the shooting was "a tragic accident" and Mehserle only intended to use his Taser.

Rains said he thinks Mehserle should only be charged with involuntary manslaughter and consequently his bail should only be $30,000, which is the standard bail for that lesser charge.

In a draft of the bail appeal released Friday, Rains said that Mehserle told Officer Anthony Pirone he was "going to taze Grant and [yelled] at Pirone to 'get back.'"

Pirone told investigators, the document revealed, that Mehserle told Grant to -- "Put your hands behind your back, stop resisting, stop resisting, put your hands behind your back."

He then said: "I'm going to taze him. I'm going to taze him. I can't get his arms."

Several of the witness quoted in the bail document corroborate the difficult struggle officers were having getting Grant to remove his hands from in front of his stomach before hearing the "pop" of the fired shot.

Pirone told investigators Mehserle then stood up and said: "Tony, Tony, get away, back up, back up."

Mehserle was armed with both a Taser and a handgun. He then allegedly drew the handgun and shot Grant once. According to the court documents submitted by Rains, Mehserle had attended a six-hour training class in use of the X-26 Taser and passed the user certification test on December 3, 2008.

In the document, Rains notes the short amount of time – less than a month – that had passed since the certification and the shooting incident and estimates that Mehserle had likely only carried the department-approved Taser somewhere between eight and twelve shifts before the New Year's Day shooting.

The bail document later asserts that "the bulk of the discovery, including witness and officer statements, seem to indicate that this young officer, who carried a taser for only a few shifts prior to this event, may have mistakenly deployed his service pistol rather than his taser, thus negating any criminal intent."

Mehserle -- who resigned the week after the shooting incident that provoked widespread outrage and protests -- has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge.

With emotions in the community still simmering, authorities increased security at the courthouse as Mehserle's made his appearance before Alameda County Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson. A group in the hallway outside could clearly be heard chanting "We are Oscar Grant. We are Oscar Grant."

The group of protesters marched through the streets of Oakland after the bail hearing, at one point congregating at the intersection of 14th Street and Broadway, stopping traffic and clambering on top of an AC Transit bus. Though there were reports of one arrest by early evening, police seemed to have the streets under control as night fell.

Former San Francisco District Attorney Jim Hammer predicted the bail would be set somewhere between $1 million and $3 million before the hearing. "In a run of the mill murder case, there is generally bail -- $2 to $3 million," Hammer said.

Hammer added that the bail hearing was just the beginning of a lengthy legal journey. With several cell phone videos having been broadcast of the shooting, the potential jury pool may have already been tainted.

"It's a real nightmare not just for the judge but for the DA also," Hammer said. "If you look back at the most recent case -- the Rodney King beating trial -- you have video of alleged police misconduct played over and over. What that means is that the jurors in Oakland probably have already made up their minds about it."

"The defense will make a motion to move it [the trial] out of the hothouse atmosphere here in Oakland and Alameda County," he added.

Hammer said the trial could be reassigned almost anywhere in the state, including communities where the racially charged nature of the case may be an issue. Grant was black and Mehserle is white.

"That would be bad news for the prosecutor," he said.
Copyright 2009 by KTVU.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 
Update: Murder trial ordered for cop who executed on the train

Murder trial ordered for cop who executed man on B.A.R.T.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=157&sid=6530411

It will be interesting to see how the MSM reports on this trial


Quote:
By TERRY COLLINS
Associated Press Writer


OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - A judge ruled Thursday that a former transit police officer should stand trial on murder charges in the fatal shooting of an unarmed man on a train platform.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Don Clay said there was sufficient evidence for ex-Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer Johannes Mehserle to face murder charges in the slaying of Oscar Grant early New Year's Day.

Mehserle has pleaded not guilty.

Mehserle's defense has contended that Mehserle accidentally grabbed his pistol instead of his stun gun when he shot Grant, who was face down on the platform.

"There is no doubt in my mind Mr. Mehserle meant to shoot Oscar Grant with a gun, not a Taser," the judge said, concluding a seven-day preliminary hearing in Oakland. "It's a dangerous act, an intentional act, a deliberate act."

Videos of the incident that spread across the Internet show Mehserle, 27, firing a shot into the 22-year-old's back. Officers had detained Grant and four friends at Oakland's Fruitvale station for allegedly fighting on a train. The video prompted sometimes violent protests in Oakland.

When the judge rendered his decision, Mehserle sat looking straight ahead. Grant's mother, Wanda Johnson, burst into tears.

After the court session, Johnson said, "I'm hurt. I'm saddened. Even if Mehserle goes to jail, his family is going to be hurt just like my family. They will have a loss. But their loss they will be able to go see. My loss, I have to go to the gravesite and look at my son's headstone."

Mehserle, who is free on $3 million bail, is next scheduled to appear June 18.


(Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

The incident

You Tube Vids
Oscar Grant Shooting (BART Shooting)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK1DXQRQ5ZU

Oscar Grant shooting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVsncZ7K584
 
After looking at the video I believe it was a mistake and a tragic accident. I know there are some crappy cops out there but there are crappy people everywhere. However, LEO's tend to be in the public eye and scrutiny. I think the cop should go to trial but I do not think it was murder with intent.
 
I can see manslaughter but murder seems to be a stretch.
Well, with the quality of video/sound, and not being able to get inside his head, we can't really know...

From what we can see, either he snapped or more likely its grossly negligent homicide...

I'd say that "gross negligence" is the most likely option and give him the benefit of doubt...

It would be one thing if they were rolling on the ground, but from a standing position with the guy on the ground - sorry, he had the time to realize he'd grabbed the wrong thing and he had a duty to be sure which he was firing...
 
And the verdict is in.

involuntary manslaughter

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/07/08/subway.shooting.trial.riot/index.html?hpt=T2

Oakland, California (CNN) -- Hundreds stormed the streets of downtown Oakland on Thursday night after a verdict in the trial of a white former police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man.

Johannes Mehserle was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter Thursday, a conviction that usually carries a maximum four-year sentence.

But some in Oakland expected a tougher penalty for the former police officer, and took to the streets in protest.

Crowds broke the glass of a Foot Locker and other stores. Others threw sneakers out of the store as police wearing gas masks stormed the area.

Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts said there were 50 arrests and he expected the number to double by the end of the night.

At the high point of the protests about 8 p.m. (11 p.m. ET), there were an estimated 800 people in the streets, Batts said.

By 10:30 p.m, there were about 75 left, Batts said.

The protests were contained to the downtown area, police said.

Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums downplayed the demonstrations.

"People were preparing for everything to explode, but I am extremely happy that so far it has not, and I hope that it doesn't," Dellums said. "We're not going to tear our own community apart, because we've got issues that we've got to deal with."

Oakland police had prepared for protests and ways of quelling the demonstrations days before the verdict.

Mehserle could have been found not guilty, guilty of second-degree murder, guilty of voluntary manslaughter -- or guilty of involuntary manslaughter -- as the jury decided.

Mehserle, a Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer at the time of the incident, was accused of shooting 22-year-old Oscar Grant on an Oakland train platform on January 1, 2009.

The trial was moved from Alameda County to Los Angeles because of pre-trial publicity.

Mehserle, wearing a gray suit, blue shirt and red tie, showed no emotion during the reading of the verdict. The former officer did not saying anything to Superior Court Judge Robert Perry or attorneys. About a dozen Los Angeles County deputies escorted the handcuffed defendant out of the courtroom after the verdict was announced.

Outside the courtroom, Grant family members expressed outrage at the verdict.

"My son was murdered. He was murdered. He was murdered. My son was murdered," said Grant's mother, Wanda Johnson. "The system has let us down, but God will never ever let us down."

Johnson and other speakers said African-Americans have been the victims of police abuse and a biased judicial system. She said Mehserle wasn't found accountable.

"We couldn't get even six hours of deliberations," said Johnson, who accused jurors of being unfair.

Mehserle, who was on duty when the shooting occurred, said at the trial that he intended to draw and fire his Taser rather than his gun, CNN affiliate KTVU reported.

Sentencing is set for August 6. Involuntary manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of up to four years in prison under California law. But the judge could add an "enhancement" that could provide a longer sentence because a firearm was used.

Members of the jury, which included no African-Americans, said they were unanimous in their decision. Their finding indicates that Mehserle was criminally negligent.

The shooting was captured on a bystander's cell-phone video camera. The video was widely circulated on the Internet and on news broadcasts, and it spurred several protests in and around Oakland.

Bay Area Rapid Transit police were called to Oakland's Fruitvale station on January 1, 2009, after passengers complained about fights on a train. Officers pulled several men, including Grant, off the train when it arrived at Fruitvale.

The video showed Mehserle pulling his gun and fatally shooting Grant in the back as another officer knelt on the unarmed man.

Mehserle resigned his position a few days after the incident and was later arrested in Nevada.
 
Bart recently reimplemented tasers to patrol officers. Officers are now only allowed to wear them on there "off side". This new mandate is a direct result of the shooting. My opinion is that making a taser in the shape of a firearm is an accident in the making. Under stress a plastic taser and any of the popular Polymer service pistols could feel the same. In the Bart shooting the weapon was a Sig.There have been numerous other shootings of suspects by officers who thought they were deploying their taser. YMMV
 
Would this be the equivalent of shooting a robber in the back as he flees your house when he sees you with a gun? Obviously he's not a threat, but you could argue that as he was running he reached in his pants (maybe for a weapon) What would happen to the homeowner? (Of course the answer varies by state I suppose)
 
Bart recently reimplemented tasers to patrol officers. Officers are now only allowed to wear them on there "off side". This new mandate is a direct result of the shooting. My opinion is that making a taser in the shape of a firearm is an accident in the making. Under stress a plastic taser and any of the popular Polymer service pistols could feel the same. In the Bart shooting the weapon was a Sig.There have been numerous other shootings of suspects by officers who thought they were deploying their taser. YMMV

I do wonder why LEO don't carry a taser with a form factor similar to the C2. IANALEO, so I'm not going to pretend to know with certainty that there's no reason not to. It does seem like it would help to prevent this incidents. You never hear a story of someone mistaking their OC spray for their firearm, because they are shaped completely differently.
 
In the video he was clearly shocked he shot him with the pistol. It was clear he intended to use the taser and made a horrific error.
 
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