Breaking news: LATimes moments ago – The jury found former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle guilty today of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the New Year’s Day 2009 shooting of an unarmed train rider, finding that he had acted with criminal negligence when he fired a single shot into Oscar Grant’s back at the Fruitvale Station in Oakland.
The Los Angeles jury reached its verdict at 2:10 p.m. today, after 6 1/2 hours of deliberations that began Wednesday morning when an alternate juror was seated to replace a panel member who had gone on vacation.
Jurors were given four options when the original panel began deliberations Friday. They could have convicted Mehserle, 28, of second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter, or they could have acquitted him.
The involuntary manslaughter verdict indicates that jurors concluded that Mehserle did not intend to kill the 22-year-old Grant but had been criminally negligent when he drew his gun. The former officer testified that he had mistaken the pistol for his Taser as he sought to subdue Grant following a fight on a BART train, a shooting that was captured on video by five other riders.
Mehserle, who had been free on bail, was remanded into custody and led away in handcuffs by bailiffs after the verdict was read. Dressed in a gray suit and blue shirt, he turned to family members sitting in the front row of the gallery, including his parents, and said softly, “I love you guys.”
Members of Grant’s family murmured in discontent as verdicts acquitting Mehserle of second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter were read. There was little reaction from them when the former officer’s conviction was announced.
But outside the court afterward, Oakland attorney John Burris, representing the family, said Grant’s relatives were “extraordinarily disappointed” by what he called “a true compromise verdict.”
“The system is rarely fair when a police officer shoots an African American male,” Burris said. “No true justice has been given.” Grant was African American and Mehserle is white. (That is just one more lawyer playing the race card and hoping it leads to a big payoff. )
Burris said the family believed the former officer should have been convicted of murder. “All have seen the video and understand the tragedy that has taken place,” Burris said.
Grant’s uncle Cephus Johnson said that “we knew from the beginning that we were at war with the system. … We have been slapped in the face by this system that has denied us true justice.” ( Then take a bow Cephus, et al, all of you should have done a better job raising that kid and maybe he would not have wound up in prison and he would have not been fighting while under the influence on BART. )
Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley, speaking at a news conference in Oakland, said she was disappointed and frustrated by the verdict. “We believe Johannes Mehserle was guilty of the crime of murder,” she said. (And you were 100% wrong – you were motivated by politics and not facts, that much is obvious.) “We presented the case that way, we presented the evidence that way, and the jury found otherwise.” (Smart jury – smarter than the prosecution anyway)
Involuntary manslaughter carries a sentence of either 24, 36, or 48 months in California, depending on the judge’s determination of the severity. The cop is not a menace to society so chances are he will get 24 months with 1/3 time off for good behavior. My guess is he won’t do more than a year in prison and a few months county time.
There won’t be a gun enhancement. The State ordered him to carry a gun. Gun enhancements are for people who do holdups and other such crimes, not for cops.