Oscar Grant III is a 22-year-old African-American man who was shot dead in the early hours of New Year's Day morning in 2009 by BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle in Oakland, California. Responding to reports of fights on the crowded Bay Area Rapid Transit train returning from San Francisco, BART Police officers arrested Grant and several other passengers on the platform at Fruitvale BART Station. Two Officers, including Officer Johannes Mehserle, forced the unarmed Grant to lie face down on the platform. Mehserle pulled out his gun and shot Grant in the back. Grant was treated and declared dead on January 1, 2009 at Highland Hospital in Oakland, CA. The event was captured in some official and personal digital video and a personal mobile camera. The owners disseminated their recordings to media outlets and to various websites where it became viral. Peaceful protests and violence from the police took place in the following days.
On January 30, 2010, the Alameda district prosecutor accused the Office of Johannes Mehserle for allegedly killing their shootings. Mehserle resigned from his position and pleaded not guilty. The trial commenced on June 10, 2010. On July 8, 2010, Mehserle was found guilty of innocent and innocent murders for second-rate killings and voluntary killings.
Despite initial protests on July 8, 2010, the jury's judgment was set in peace, after dark there were looting, arson, property destruction and minor riots. Nearly 80 people were finally arrested. On July 9, 2010, the US Department of Justice opened a civil rights investigation against Mehserle. The federal government may prosecute independently for the same action under the exception of a separate ruler to double the danger. No fees have been submitted until now. On November 5, 2010, Mehserle was sentenced to two years, minus the time served. He served his time at the jail guard of Los Angeles County Prison Prison, detained in a private cell for his safety. On June 13, 2011, Mehserle was released on parole after serving 11 months.
Oakland's civil rights lawyer John Burris filed a $ 25 million wrong claim against BART on behalf of the Grant family. BART settled with Grant's daughter and mother for a total of $ 2.8 million in 2011. It was also settled with some of Grant's friends who had been demanding compensation for police brutality. A separate dress by Grant's father did not result in a settlement, because the jury decided that he who was imprisoned for most of Grant's lifetime meant they did not have much of a relationship.
Video Shooting of Oscar Grant
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Oscar Grant has been celebrating with his friends at Embarcadero in San Francisco on New Year's Eve. He and about eight friends returned to the East Bay on the main train of the BART train to Fruitvale, a station in Oakland. BART offers additional services and a special "Flash Pass" for New Year's holidays.
At about 2:00 am, PST, BART The police responded to a physical squabble report involving up to 20 people on the train coming from the West Oakland BART Station; the participants were described as "hammered and stoned." Earlier that evening, Officials Mehserle and Woffinden had responded to an incident at the West Oakland station where people were allegedly armed and one had fled from the officers.
BART officers Tony Pirone and Marysol Domenici were the first officers to arrive at the scene. Officers removed Grant and several others suspected of fighting from the train and holding them on the platform. Pirone handcuffs Grant's friend, infuriating other riders. Pirone lined up with Grant and two other men on the wall.
When five other officers, including Johannes Mehserle and his partner, Woffinden, arrived at Fruitvale station, they found the situation "chaotic", according to their report. Mehserle's on-duty partner, Officer Jon Woffinden, said "the incident was one of the scariest things he experienced in 12 years as a police officer."
Maps Shooting of Oscar Grant
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BART officer Marysol Domenici was the 9th officer on the scene with his partner, Tony Pirone. They try to control the passengers coming from the train. Domenici testified to the BART incident hearing that Grant and his friends swore at him and did not obey his orders. He was quoted to have testified that: "If they will follow orders, this will not happen. They may have just been quoted and released." Pirone is said to have been confirmed by a train operator that people detained by the BART police on the platform were involved in the reported fights on the train.
A mobile video video broadcasted on KTVU local television station on January 23 showed what looked like Pirone rushed to one of the detained men and punched his face several times two minutes before the shooting. Grant's family alleged in their civil suit against BART that an officer threw Grant to the wall and his knees on the face. The subsequent autopsy showed that Grant's body was not injured other than a bullet wound. Pirone's lawyer stated that Grant provoked Pirone by trying to injure officers in the groin and by hitting Officer Marysol Domenici's arm when he tried to bind one of Grant's friends.
Witnesses testified that Pirone was an attacker during the incident. Burris also denied Pirone's account and claimed that Grant and his friends were "peaceful" when the train stopped. Grant raised his hand as he sat on the platform wall. Additional footage from the mobile phone presented in court showed Pirone standing over Grant who was prone before the shooting and shouted: "Whore-ass nigger, right?" Pirone and his lawyer said he repeated the derogatory nickname that Grant had yelled at him.
While dozens of people from the train stopped shouting and cursing officers, Mehserle and Pirone positioned Grant face-to-face. According to Pirone, Grant did not obey instructions and cursed officers. Witnesses said that Grant pleaded with the BART police not to shock him with Taser. Pirone kneels in Grant's neck and tells him that he's been arrested for refusing an officer.
Mehserle tried to bind Grant but could not take his hand. He stood up, removed his gun, SIG Sauer P226, and fired a shot at Grant's back. Immediately after the shooting, Mehserle looked shocked and raised his hand to his face. Several witnesses said Mehserle said, "My God!" several times after filming.
The.40 caliber bullet from Mehserle's semi-automatic gun entered Grant's back, out through his front side and bouncing off the concrete platform, poking Grant's lungs. According to one witness, Grant shouted, "You shot me! I have a four-year-old girl!" Grant died seven hours later, at 9:13 am, at Highland Hospital in Oakland.
Initially there was a rumor that Grant was handcuffed before he was killed. But court filings by the county attorney's office said Grant's hand was behind his back and that he was "controlled and unarmed" but did not say he was handcuffed. Mehserle said he was afraid that Grant would "search for his waist belt" and a gun. The day after the shooting, BART spokesman Jim Allison said that Grant was out of control when he was shot, and several witnesses testified that Grant refused to hand his hand to be handcuffed before the shootings. The family claim against BART states that Grant was handcuffed only after he was shot.
Video proof
The direct evidence of the shootings was documented by a video camera held by passengers on a train stopping beside the platform, when police detained Grant and a number of other people suspected of involvement in the disturbance. Several witnesses testified at the preliminary hearing for Mehserle's trial that they began recording because they believed the BART officers were acting too aggressively. They gave the videos to the television news, which broadcast them; other posted videos on the internet.
Oakland lawyer John Burris, who represents the family in their demands against the BART for Grant's death, said BART confiscated many cell phone pictures that he believed contained additional evidence of the murder. District Attorney of Alameda County Tom Orloff said the video confiscated by BART is useful in bringing murder charges against Mehserle. Witnesses at the scene said police were trying to confiscate cameras. These claims have never been recognized by the BART police.
Orloff, district attorney, said that some of the unpublished passenger videos were "very helpful" in the investigation.
On January 2nd, KTVU aired a video by an anonymous passenger who sent a mobile video of the shoot. On January 23rd, KTVU aired a mobile phone video that seemed to show the second clerk punching Grant in the face before the shootings. At the end of February, KRON 4 aired a video clip that showed a different angle of the fight.
BART spokesman Linton Johnson described the surveillance recordings of the Fruitvale platform cameras as "benign." He said platform cameras had recorded several incidents, but the recording did not include the shooting.
Frank Borelli, a retired police officer and writer, said that the scene as shown in the video just before the filming would be as important to understanding what happened as the shooting itself. "The four officers had to operate under a high level of stress given the relatively limited arrangements and people on the express BART train, in a very loud vocal way, their displeasure with the officer's actions. The officers, should things be bad for them , far outnumbered by a group of people who have voiced their unhappiness with the police. "
After seeing the shootings from various angles, expert use of police force Roy Bedard, who initially said he thought the shooting was an accident, changed his mind. He said: "I hate to say this, it looks like the execution for me" and "It really looks bad for the officers." University of San Francisco law professor Robert Talbot said the videos could support the unintentional shooting claim: "There is nothing about his [Mehserle] body that looks like killing." Attorney Harland Braun, who won the release of an officer in Rodney King's beating, noted that video evidence can be deceptive. The recording does not indicate what happened before or after the incident.
Video effect
The video images of the incident were widely broadcast and streamed online. Several hundred thousand people saw the video in the first few days after the shooting. One video of a local television station posted to its website is downloaded more than 500,000 times in four days, and an independent media video posted on the internet averages over 1,000 views per hour. Seeing direct evidence of the shootings resulted in public outcry and protests, and sparked unrest.
Parties involved
Oscar Grant III
Oscar Juliuss Grant III (February 27, 1986 - January 1, 2009) lives in Hayward, California. He worked as a butcher at Farmer's Joe's Marketplace in Oakland's Dimond District after working at several Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets. He has attended San Lorenzo high school and Mount Eden in Hayward until the 10th grade and finally got his GED. Grant was released on parole at the time of his death, having been released from prison following a sixteen-month sentence for possession of weapons.
Grant's funeral was held at the Palma Ceia Baptist Church in Hayward on January 7, 2009. Mrs. Grant, sister, daughter, and girlfriend (mother's daughter) filed a wrongful death suit against BART after her death. It was completed in 2011.
Johannes Mehserle
Johannes Sebastian Mehserle (born c. 1982 in Germany) grew up in the Bay Area. Mehserle graduated from New Technology High School in Napa, California. He attended Napa at Sonoma State University, and he developed an interest in police work through a friend who was a police officer. He graduated from Napa Valley College Police Academy in 2006. Mehserle's girlfriend gave birth to their child on the day after the shooting, January 2, 2009.
Mehserle joined the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Police in March 2007. After the shooting, a Bay Area man had reported to the media that Mehserle had beaten him on November 15, 2008; Mehserle police report said that four officers arrested the man after he yelled at the threat and took a fighting position. The accused was taken to the hospital for chest and facial injuries; he was later put in jail for refusing to arrest him. He has not filed a formal complaint against BART.
BART review and investigation process
After the shooting of 2009, Mehserle filed drug and alcohol tests per standard BART operation procedure. The results showed no drugs or alcohol in his system. He retained a criminal defense attorney and refused to speak to the authorities, requested the Public Security Attorney Law Rights Act (California Government Code Section 3300-3313) and the Fifth Amendment, claiming the potential for self-torture.
BART arranges an internal investigation into the incident. On January 5, 2009, Mehserle's lawyers postponed a meeting scheduled by BART researchers, who were trying to suspend him. BART The police administration and investigators ordered officers to attend investigative interviews on 7 January. Mehserle was not present; instead of his lawyer and his union officer's BART Police officer came and handed in his resignation letter.
Mehserle and his family received a number of death threats after the shooting video appeared, and he moved at least twice. His parents temporarily leave their Napa home because of death threats to the family.
Domenici testified at the investigative hearing. He was dismissed by BART based on allegations that he was dishonest in his statement to transit investigators. He appealed the shooting. On December 18, 2010, it was reported that the arbitrators of San Francisco workers William Riker ordered the former officer to be given a full salary because there was no basis to find that Domenici did not tell the truth.
Aftermath
The next shootings and riots were covered in regional, national, and international news. The shooting video images were widely broadcast and streamed online in the days following Grant's death. Several hundred thousand view the video in the first few days after the incident. The widespread deployment of direct evidence of the shootings caused public outcry and protests and sparked unrest.
Police with anti-riot equipment were sent and made efforts to disperse the crowd. During the night of January 8, when there was a peaceful protest, some protesters turned into riots and rampant property vandalism. Black Bloc and other rioters destroyed hundreds of windows of cars and shops, some private cars, and lots of trash cans and trash cans. Public buildings such as the almost restored Oakland Police Department and Fox Theater are being damaged. The riot happened later in the afternoon. Police made at least 105 arrests on suspicion of violations. More than 300 businesses are affected by vandalism.
Community members and activists denounced the shooting incident as another case of police brutality. There is a widespread public perception that the BART Police and the Alameda District Attorney's office did not conduct an effective investigation because, according to the East Bay Times article BART completed a shooting investigation on January 12, 2009, 12 days after the shooting occurred. The others were angry that Mehserle was allegedly not cooperating with Police Station and Attorney Investigators.
Fruitvale protests and parade; city ​​center riot
On January 7, 2009, protests over the shootings and administration of the judiciary began peacefully at around 3:30 pm. with about 500 people gathered at the Fruitvale station. In the afternoon, several protesters marched to the central business district of Oakland and downtown. More than 200 Oakland police officers were sent in an attempt to disperse the demonstrators. Police block roads and bend vehicles and pedestrian traffic. Upon entering the central business district, the marches continued to the BART command headquarters and control headquarters at 8 & amp; The Madison walk is near the Merritt BART Lake station.
Once at the BART Police Control and Command, a contingent of angry protesters surrounded a police car. The clerk who drives the car flees on foot. Meanwhile, the rioters broke the cruiser window and tried to undo it. A police line wearing gas masks swept behind the rear of the ranks and exerted tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowd.
The protests continued as crowds lined up along 8th Street through Chinatown. On Broadway, officers wearing gas masks deployed more tear gas canisters and acted quickly to fill and disperse the crowd as they approached around the Oakland Police headquarters on 7th and Broadway.
Protests reunited in the city center at the intersection of 14th and Broadway, blocking motor vehicle traffic. Some protesters lie face down at the intersection, in a symbolic act of solidarity with Grant, who was killed in the same position. The others shouted to the police and sang in unison. Others carry signs that read, "Your idea of ​​justice?" and "Police Killer Prison" and light a candle to remember Grant.
Police with helmets and gas masks clustered in a line formation standing on the south, west, and north side of the intersection, allowing a retreat to 14th Street on the east side of the intersection.
About an hour later, police gave orders to disperse and fired tear gas, rubber bullets, and other non-lethal weapons and non-lethal devices at demonstrators. The protesters threw bottles, stones, and other objects to the police. The police pushed the crowds east along 14th Street to the Lakeside Apartments District and the scene dissolved in unrest along 14th Street spine.
A number of helicopters flying in the air all night gathered in the area. Law enforcement helicopters shine on a powerful spotlight onto the road surface, while media helicopters shoot video, which is broadcast in real time on local television stations.
Within the next few hours, a small group of rioters burned the contents of trash cans, dustbins, newspaper boxes, and burned at least five cars, including Oakland police patrol cars. Some rioters broke the parked windscreen. The riots spread far into the Lakeside Apartments District and the cars were burned and badly damaged on Madison Street. Other rioters inside the clutch broke the window of the storefront, including McDonald's fast food restaurants in Jackson and 14th Streets at Lakeside Apartments District. The night of the riots coincided with the day of garbage collection in the next morning and lots of trash cans and containers parked by the roadside. Rioters used this trash can to start a fire along the city streets. The rioters damaged some carefully restored historic wood and terra cotta in the almost restored Fox Theater. Damage to Fox is estimated at about $ 10,000 to $ 20,000.
Appearance and unrest by Dellums lit
As riots move east toward Lake Merritt, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and Larry Reid hold an impromptu press conference on the 14th and Jackson roads, along the spine of the riots, and call for the masses to disperse peacefully. Dellums peacefully marched with the crowd back to the West along 14th Street to the steps of City Hall, where he tried to talk to the crowd. After the crowd reacted negatively, he cut short meetings and entered the City Hall.
Demonstrators continued through City Hall Plaza, with angry mob groups destroying windows of the Internal Affairs Office and Oakland Police Recruitment Office on the east side of 250 Frank Ogawa Plaza. Police cruiser windows parked outside the office were also destroyed.
Protesters continued east along 17th Street to the 17th Street Commercial District in Oaksterdam, across Broadway and Franklin, where rioters broke windows of windowless windows, and kept returning to the Lakeside District, lighting up the burning Christmas trees. Police continue their efforts to disperse the crowd, and unrest continues on Broadway Downtown.
The riot happened at about 10:40. At about 20th and Broadway outside Paramount Theater, where police detained about 80 people for various offenses. Most are cited and released for complaints that include instigating riots, vandalism, attacks on a police officer, and arson. Police found two pistols from rioters. About 120 people were totally arrested for violations arising from the protests during the night. Two have been charged to date.
The Lake Merritt and 12th Street BART stations are temporarily closed during the evenings.
Many affiliated and independent media photographers and videographers, filmed scenes from close range on the field. Media helicopters record video developments from above, which are broadcast in real time on local television stations.
Reaction from the business community and city officials
The unrest adds to the crime perception in Oakland, adding to the previous year's takeover robbery, and is a challenge to overcome for greater economic investment. Administration Dellums held a press conference at City Hall Hearing room 4 on January 8, and denounced the unrest as regressive. Dellums noted there was a riot on the streets of Oakland in 1967, 40 years ago, "and here we are, still destroying the car." Dellums noted that people were upset and "lost confidence in the process" because of what he called lack of communication by BART officials and the district attorney's office in the days after Grant was killed. BART has also been criticized for not ordering Mehserle to speak with internal affairs before.
Criminal Trial
On January 12, Sierraeda County District Attorney Tom Orloff filed a complaint for murder and a Alameda High Court Judge signed a warrant for the arrest of a fugitive, because Mehserle had left town. She was arrested Jan. 13 at a friend's house in Zephyr Cove, Nevada, near Lake Tahoe. His lawyer said Mehserle had left after receiving death threats in the Bay Area. Mehserle was released on extradition, and was held in a protective custody at Santa Rita prison in Dublin, California. Mehserle pleaded not guilty in his indictment on January 15.
On January 30, Alameda County High Court Judge Morris Jacobson set a guarantee for Mehserle for $ 3 million. A week later, with the help of fundraising from the police union, Mehserle sent a guarantee.
Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff refused to speculate whether Mehserle would be charged with a first or second killing, saying "What I feel is evidence of unlawful killings committed by deliberate act and from the evidence we have no one will defuse it for something lower than murder. "Orloff noted Mehserle's refusal to explain himself as the reason for demanding him with murder charges, not the usual killings. Orloff says he will fight every movement to change the venue.
Mehserle retained the Pleasant Hill criminal defense attorney, Michael Rains, who previously managed to represent one of the Oakland Riders. Before Mehserle defended the Rains, the lawyer told the Associated Press that it might be difficult to sue Mehserle for murder because the law forbids "guessing and looking back" police officers, who tend to be favored by jurors. Mehserle's defense is paid by state funds for police officers.
Bail hearing
On January 30, Rains told the court that Mehserle had brought Taser only for a few shifts before the January 1 shooting, and he mistakenly used his service weapon when he thought Grant grabbed a gun. Rains said, "Mr. Grant is active, active, and actively opposed to arrest." He said that several witnesses heard Mehserle say, "Back, I will seduce him." Rains said he plans to summon witnesses who will show "there is a level of resistance by Oscar Grant and others that will eliminate the crime."
The prosecutor's theory in this case is that the live video evidence shows that Mehserle deliberately reaches for his weapon. They argue: "What we see in the video is an officer releasing his control over the suspect, standing up, drawing his weapon, with great effort, and shooting him." Jacobson agreed in deciding to set a $ 3 million guarantee that Mehserle's claim of Taser's confusion was inconsistent with his earlier remarks to fellow officers, and that Mehserle might have changed his story. He then imposed a silencing order on lawyers and investigators in this case, forbidding them to release future filings or to comment on the press.
Preliminary check
Rains argued during the preliminary hearing that Mehserle lacked the necessary hatred for the murder charge and that he intended to conjure Grant. A BART officer testified, saying that Grant and his friends had screamed profanity and disobeyed his orders to sit down moments before Mehserle fired at Grant. He says he's scared when he hears taunts coming from Grant, his friends, and passengers on the train. After seven days of testimony, Judge C. Don Clay concluded that Mehserle was not wrong to use his service gun rather than his stun gun. The judge based this on Mehserle's statement to another officer that he thought Grant had a gun. He also notes that Mehserle has held his weapon with both hands, but he is trained to use only his left hand if he fires a Taser. Mehserle faces a life sentence if convicted of first-degree murder.
Rains filed an additional move on the grounds that Judge Clay had to review a verdict prohibiting defense lawyers from providing evidence about Grant's criminal background, and a verdict prohibiting him presenting evidence that Mehserle had told his fellow officers just before the shooting incident he planned to use his Taser on Grant. He protested that "Both of these decisions were a big mistake under the authority of the old and never questioned California government" and alleged that they "substantially disrupted Mehserle's federal rights process to defend itself against murder charges." The rain shook to convince Judge Clay to remove the District Attorney's office Tom Orloff from the case. Rains claims Orloff violated his client's rights because he ordered two Oakland police officers to try to interview Mehserle after he was arrested, though Orloff knew Mehserle had a lawyer. Judge Clay said Orloff's actions did not prove biased or did not meet the conditions required for him to be excluded from the case.
Selection of pleas and judges
On June 19, 2009, Mehserle pleaded not guilty. The jury trial is scheduled to begin in October. Mehserle's lawyer, Michael Rains is looking for a change of court, on the grounds that there will be no impartial judges in Alameda County. Citing extensive media coverage and social upheaval from protests and riots, the judges agreed. Rains demand was honored on October 16, and downtown Los Angeles was chosen as the venue on 19 November.
Los Angeles County Judge Robert J. Perry was assigned to handle the case. He said that he would not allow the camera in the courtroom. The hearing was held on 19 February 2010 to address two issues. The judge did not reduce Mehserle's guarantees, as requested by the defense. The judge also refused a motion by the defense to remove the district attorney Alameda from the case. Rain has stated that prosecutors and detectives acted inappropriately when they interviewed Mehserle earlier in the case. Another hearing is set for March 26.
Mehserle's lawyer stated that his client did not commit first-degree murder, and asked the judge to order the jury to limit his consideration to second-degree murder or release. Rains wrote that Mehserle would not deny that the murder was committed in a hot or defensive passion. Rains also argues that prosecutors do not show evidence that fatal shootings are voluntary or unintentional killings.
On May 7, Judge Perry gave a motion by the defense to discuss Grant's conviction of possessing a weapon and avoiding arrest. Perry formally chose the jury on June 8 after the lawyers used their moves. The 12 jurors consisted of eight women and four men; from this jury, seven white, four Hispanic, and one Asian. Of the alternatives, there are five women and one man, consisting of three Asians, two whites, and one Hispanic. It is alleged that six of the jurors have law enforcement connections.
The Grant family expressed his anger at the lack of blacks on the jury. The day before the trial began, Deputy District Attorney David Stein revealed the photo Grant took from Mehserle with a cell phone camera. The photo shows Mehserle pointing at the Taser in Grant.
Taser confusion
Some experts who watched video evidence showed Mehserle might have confused his weapon for his Taser, causing him to mistakenly believe that he was Tasering Grant. If Mehserle thinks he shot his Taser, it could provide a full or partial defense against the murder allegations. It depends on whether Mehserle has the legal right to use his Taser at all, which is questionable. Prosecutors alleged that the document, including a blood alcohol test, completed by Mehserle after the shootings showed that he had changed his story of what had happened.
Although there were previous cases where police confuse the rifle with Tasers, modern Tasers weigh half as much as a pistol. The prosecutor argued that Taser Mehserle's position "in relation to his weapons of duty, combined with the different 'feelings' and colors of the two weapons made it highly unlikely that he would mistaken for the others." Burris responds to Taser's confusion claims by stating that video evidence does not support Taser's confusion idea. Anyway, he said, Mehserle had no reason to fire his Taser. Mehserle wears a Taser on his left side (on the opposite side from which he wears his gun) - but is prepared for a cross-body draw, right hand (right hand).
BART purchased a stun gun from Taser X26 in September 2008 and gave it to officers after six hours of training, as recommended by the manufacturer.
Witness testimonial
On June 14, Carlos Reyes reminded Mehsple, "Oh shit, I shot him" after shooting Grant. Grant's ex-boyfriend, Sophina Mesa, testified that he called Grant when he and his friends were arrested, and he said, "They beat us for no reason, I'll call you back." Deputy District Attorney David Stein believes that Grant's phone call proves he did not try to fight the arrest that night. The cell phone records show two calls between Grant and Mesa - at 2:05 am and 2:09 am - the last two minutes before Grant was shot.
On June 15, three witnesses from the account testified that both Grant and other suspects actively refused officers anytime. Each expressed disgust at the behavioral officer before filming that night.
On June 22, Jackie Bryson, a friend of Grant "who knelt and handcuffed just inches from Grant when Johannes Mehserle shot him", testifying for prosecution. Bryson said that Grant's hand was under Grant's body and Grant said: "I quit. I give up." He claims that Mehserle said "Fuck this" before photographing Grant. Rains defense lawyers repeatedly accused Bryson of lying to the convicted Mehserle and showed a video showing Bryson running toward the train while being handcuffed. Responding to the Rains question, "You'll leave your friend on that platform, will not you?" Bryson said, "I will never leave my friend." Rains accused Bryson of being inconsistent based on his statements in his civil suit filed in early January 2009 against the BART. Bryson said he had lied to investigators, distrusted the police, and has been frequently stressed since Grant's murder.
On June 25, Mehserle took the witness stand. With a sob, he says that he does not think that he holds his gun until he hears a pop sound and sees his right hand. Responding to questions from Rains, he recalls Grant saying "you shot me" right after the shot exploded. Judge Perry called out a recess after Grant supported Timothy Killings yelling at Mehserle to "save those damn tears." After another explosion, Murder was arrested for defamation of the court.
Closes the argument and verdict
Judge Perry offers a jury of three faith choices: second degree murder (with a life sentence of 15 years in prison), voluntary killings (3 to 11 years), or unintentional murder (2 to 4 years); In addition, the jury may decide to release. Attorney Michael O'Brien said that by shooting Grant, Mehserle was inherently committing a crime. Intention means murder or voluntary murder, and an accident shows carelessness on Mehserle's part and thus unintentional murder. Judge Perry gave two interpretations of Mehserle's shocked reaction after shooting Grant: either Mehserle intended to use his Taser or he realized that many people witnessed his actions.
Closes the argument on July 1st. Expressing the belief that Mehserle "lost all control" the night he shot Grant and called the shooting an accident to avoid accountability, Deputy District Attorney David Stein asked the jury to punish Mehserle for second-degree murder.. Defense lawyers Rains argue that the shooting was unintentional and told them not to make "some sort of comment about the state of the relationship between the police and the people in this country." The jury consultation begins on Friday, July 2nd. The jury gets a holiday on July 5 for the Independence Day holiday.
On July 6, deliberation was suspended after a jury went on vacation, after telling the previous judge, another juror went to medical appointment, and the other was called sick. One new jury member joined the panel. A juror asks a question asking if provocation by "sources other than a suspect" can lead people to guilty of arbitrary killings. Stein argues that the jury should be able to consider outsiders' influence on Mehserle, but Rains disagrees.
On July 8, 2010, the jury informed the court that they had reached the verdict at 2:10 pm. The discussion with the panel of judges amounted to six and a half hours for two days. At about 4:00 pm, the jury announced that they had found Johannes Mehserle guilty of unintentional murder, and not guilty of charges of second-degree murder or voluntary murder charges. The jury found Mehserle guilty of alleged increases in weapons that could be increased by up to ten years in prison, making him ineligible for trial, and required him to serve 85 percent of his sentence, in contrast to 50 percent that most state detainees serve.
Having previously been freed up with $ 3 million worth of bonds, Mehserle was returned to custody after the verdict was read. The next trial date, when the punishment will be made, is set for August 6, 2010.
After the verdict, the court issued a two-page letter written by Mehserle in which he said: "no words can express how sorry I am."
Punishment
Mehserle was originally scheduled to be sentenced on August 6, 2010. The penalty was rescheduled for November 5 at the plea request.
On November 5, 2010, Mehserle was sentenced to two years with double credit for the time already served (due to jail CA/jail jostling, one day in detention considered as two for most inmates), reduced his term of 292 days to 146 the day he has spent in jail. The judge canceled the increase in weapons, which could add an additional 3 to 10 years to the penalty. He was released from prison at 12:01 am on June 13, 2011.
Appeal
On May 9, 2012, almost a year after his release from prison, Mehserle filed an appeal to the First District Court in San Francisco. His lawyer, Dylan Schaffer, stated the purpose of this appeal was to enable Mehserle to return to the "police job" which is impossible with this belief in his record. They intend to proceed to the state and US Supreme Court, but in September 2012, the California Supreme Court unanimously denied reviewing appeals that upheld the conviction.
Responses
BART
On January 8, 2009, the BART-elected director offered an apology to the families of the victims. BART then filed a legal response to the lawsuit claiming that the shooting was a "tragic accident", and that Grant contributed to the fatal incident. BART said the officers were "just defending themselves" and that "Oscar Grant deliberately, wrongly, and illegally attacked the defendant and would be beaten, defaced and mistreated if the defendant did not immediately defend himself."
In the days after the shooting, BART held several public meetings to ease tensions, led by BART Director, Carole Ward Allen. He asked the BART Board to hire two independent auditors to investigate the shootings, and to make recommendations to the board about the BART police misconduct. Director Ward Allen formed the BART Police Department Review Committee and worked with Assemblyman Sandre Swanson to pass AB 1586 to the California State Legislature, which enforces civilian oversight of the BART Police Department. BART board member Lynette Sweet said that "BART has not handled [the situation] correctly," and called on the BART police chief and general manager to step down, but only one other councilor, Tom Radulovich, has supported the move.
Investigations are carried out to determine if any other officers should be disciplined. On January 12, the investigation proceeded to the district attorney. The investigation, which interviewed seven police officers and 33 other witnesses, did not come to conclusions and made no recommendations. The details are forwarded to Meyers Nave, an outside law firm, for independent inquiry. It's led by Jayne Williams, a former San Leandro town lawyer, and is estimated to cost $ 250,000. In August, the law firm gave two reports to BART but released only one publicly. The report said officers failed to follow recommended procedures, failed to work as a team, and suffered irregularities in tactical communication and leadership.
KTVU broadcasts a mobile video showing Pirone striking Grant, resulting in additional agency action. BART General Manager Dorothy Dugger said a "tight" internal affairs investigation would be ordered. Later, a lawyer, representing BART and referring to the same video, said that Grant provoked Pirone's attack by trying to get the Pirone knee at least twice, "It is our position that there is provocation and attack on Mr. Pirone based on a video showing Mr. Grant seems to hit Mr. Pirone with his knee, "On September 22, KTVU reported that Meyers Nave, in an unreleased report, has recommended the termination of Tony Pirone and Marysol Domenici. After the leave since the incident, Domenici was dismissed on March 24, 2010. He was reinstated in December after the arbitration of workers was completed for him. Pirone was dismissed on April 21 after an internal investigation corroborated the findings of a violation against him. Like Domenici, Pirone is then sought to be recovered through arbitration. This is the process by which the BART and BART police administration elect a member of the police to decide whether Anthony Pirone's shooting is justified. The arbitration was postponed, as Pirone served a tour in Afghanistan in the US Army. When he returns, the arbitration will be completed by the end of 2013, but postponed until late 2014. In December 2014, BART spokesman Alicia Trost told reporters that Pirone's arbitration was rejected, and the arbitrator upheld the termination. Pirone's lawyer, William Rapoport, declined to comment.
Public
The protesters organized several demonstrations and parades several weeks after the shootings and during the trial. Alice Huffman, president of NAACP state, said there is little doubt that the shooting was a criminal. Many journalists and community organizers claim that racial issues play a role in both killing and in community response. The Grant family claimed that officers used racial insults during the arrests. BART Police Chief Gary Gee said that the BART investigation had found no "nexus for this provoking race to happen."
There is a widespread public perception that the BART Police did not conduct an effective investigation. Attempts by BART officers to confiscate witness cell phones during the incident created controversy. The shooting sparked outrage among political leaders and legal watchers; Supervisor of Alameda County Keith Carson, Oakland City Councilmember Desley Brooks (Eastmont-Seminary), and Berkeley Copwatch labeled execution shootings. Local columnists criticize languages ​​like "inflammation" and "the opposite of the kind of sane leadership we need and expect from our elected officials."
When the case is heard, tension is triggered because the jury selected does not contain African Americans. After the verdict was announced, Legal commentator Radley Balko said he found "there is no basis for allegations that Mehserle deliberately executed a man in front of dozens of witnesses", and described the verdict as "appropriate". not popular ".
Grant's death has been touted as one of several police murders that contributed to the national Black Lives Matter movement.
Protests and riots
Grant's fatal shooting was a catalyst for several protests. On January 8, 2009, a protest march in Oakland about 250 people became violent. The rioters caused more than $ 200,000 in damages: opening shop and window cars, burning cars, burning trash cans, and throwing bottles at police officers. Police arrested more than 100 people. The Grant family begs to calm down and speak out against violence at a press conference the next day. On January 9, police with anti-riot equipment dispersed a crowd of about 100 demonstrators after rioters stopped the vehicle and threw garbage cans in the streets.
The January 14 demonstration briefly turned violent, and police arrested 18 people after rioters smashed car windows and shops in the downtown Oakland district. The other eight were arrested in a January 30 demonstration after Mehserle's hearing, in which he said that he intended to use his Taser rather than to shoot Grant. Mayor Ron Dellums stated that Mehserle's right to obtain a guarantee must be canceled to prevent violence in the community.
The Oakland Tribune Columnist Tammerlin Drummond criticized the protesters as "self-described anarchists," who are not even from Oakland, and want Black Panther Party members... to play right in the hands of defense "by giving Mehserle an incoming case sense for place shift.
On May 18, 2009, 100 people protested outside the Alameda Court Building during the preliminary hearing and then marched to the nearby Oakland Police Department. A protest protester was arrested after the group blocked traffic.
Protests continued throughout the pretrial process. At trial on February 19, 2010, about 50 protesters carried signs outside the Los Angeles courthouse. It is estimated that 200 protesters gathered at Embarcadero BART San Francisco on April 8, 2010 to call for the dissolution of the transit police department and the shooting of an officer who was in the place when Grant was shot.
On July 8, 2010, after the ruling, the protests began peacefully, and officials praised both protesters and police for restraint. When the announcement time of the verdict was announced, many people packed the BART train to leave Oakland in fear of unrest, and Interstate 880 and 980 had heavy traffic. Several peaceful meetings were held throughout Oakland after the verdict was announced, and sporadic conflicts were swiftly quelled by police early in the night. When night comes, rioters engage in opportunistic looting of local businesses. The Oakland police chief was quoted as saying that the people who committed violence did not seem to be Oaklanders protesting against the verdict, but instead "anarchists... who almost became professionals came into this crowd and caused trouble." The Oakland Police caught 83 people with various allegations, ranging from vandalism to failure to disperse the attack. According to the Oakland Police Chief, nearly 3 of the 4 people arrested during the protests did not live in Oakland.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that many of the most aggressive rioters in damaging Oakland's business and property are organized white anarchists dressed in black clothes and hoods. An anarchist slogan is painted on one wall that says "Say 'no' to work. Say 'yes' to loot."
Some Oakland officials object to the "anarchist" label, saying that outside agitators seem to lack a cohesive philosophy and are only determined to make trouble.
Civil lawsuit
Several lawsuits filed against BART after these events; two made it to court. Oakland lawyer John Burris filed a $ 25 million wrong claim against BART on behalf of the Grant family (mother, daughter, sister and girlfriend) on January 6, 2009.
In February 2009, Burris filed a total $ 1.5 million claim on behalf of five Grant friends, who he said were held for no reason for five hours after the shootings, accused of illegal searches and foreclosures, fake arrests, and excessive use of force.
Burris then increased the amount the Grant family sought to $ 50 million. The civil case was partially settled when BART settled with Grant's daughter for $ 1.5 million (at accrued interest), according to Burris law firm. BART paid a $ 1.3 million settlement to Grant's mother. Five friends from Grant settled with BART and received a total of $ 175,000.
Grant's father, who had been imprisoned since before Grant was born, separately demanded Mehserle for damages associated with the death of Grant III.
Zeporia Smith, mother of Johnnie Caldwell, a friend of Grant, filed suit in 2011 (after her son was killed in a separate incident). He claims that Officer Marysol Domenici has used excessive force against his son while holding him on the platform at Fruitvale. Caldwell had testified in a video deposition in 2009 that after Grant III was shot, Officer Domenici dragged Caldwell across the platform, threatened him with Taser, and drove him to the departing train.
In 2014 civil jurors hear of Grant Jr.'s case and Smith. On July 1, 2014, a civil jury denied Grant's claims against Mehserle in Grant's shooting, as they concluded that his imprisonment had prevented him from having a close relationship with his son.
In the same hearing, the jury decided to support Domenici's Officers and against Smith. One person said that the lack of a video documenting Caldwell's claims of excessive power has been a decisive factor.
In popular culture
- The documentary entitled Operation Small Ax (2010) focuses on police brutality in the Bay Area in the context of Grant's shooting, and, later that year, Lovelle Mixon, who is accused of having shot dead four police officers. Directed and produced by Adimu Madyun, the film won the Rise Up Award 2010 from The Patois International Rights Film Festival in New Orleans. It was written by J.R. Valrey, a volunteer producer and journalist advocate in San Francisco KPFA-FM. Valrey accompanied the screening of films in various places across the country in 2010.
- The Oakland, California indie rock band Rogue Wave refers to the incident in the song "Solitary Gun" on their 2010 album Permalight: . "Step out of the train and look for signs of Fruitvale, January air whipping on my back."
- In 2011, Seattle-based hip-hop duo, Blue Scholars released the album Cinemetropolis , featuring a song called "Oskar Barnack"? Oscar Grant, "with lyrics centered around police filming activities.
- In January 2013, filmmaker Ryan Coogler premiered Fruitvale (later titled Fruitvale Station ). The feature drama portrays the last 24 hours of Grant's life, showing it with family, friends, and at work. Coogler uses several eyewitness records made during the BART incident. Major photography includes locations in Oakland, San Francisco, San Leandro, and San Quentin State Prison. It stars Michael B. Jordan as an Oscar, and Octavia Spencer as Oscar Wanda's mother. On January 26, 2013, the film won the Grand Jury Dramatic Prize and also the US Drama Audience Award at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.
- In 2014, playwright Chinaka Hodge premiered Chasing Mehserle, a drama about Watts, a young man from Oakland who became obsessed with hunting down and killing officer Johannes Mehserle.
- In 2014, freelance freelance journalist Thandisizwe Chimurenga wrote No Doubt: Oscar Grant Murder (ISBN: 1489596291), based on Johannes Mehserle's trial. Chimurenga covers criminal trials, which have been transferred to Los Angeles, to some Bay Area news sites.
See also
- List of homicide by law enforcement officers in the United States
- Drag and catch
References
External links
- People v. Mehserle , Motion to Assure Warranty on Wayback Machines (archived March 5, 2009) and "Prosecution Opposition on the Defendant's Waiver of Warranties", DocStoc
- San Francisco Chronicle coverage of Oscar Grant shootings at Wayback Machine (archived March 5, 2009)
- BART filming Oscar Grant, Oakland Tribune
- Justice for the Oscar Grant Movement, Indy Bay
- Oscar Grant at Discover the Mausoleum
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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