White Transit Officer Gets Minimum 2 Years in Killing of Unarmed Black Man at Station
Both the family of a slain black victim and the family of a white transit officer were reportedly unhappy with the two-year sentence imposed today on Johannes Mehserle for killing the unarmed, apparently unresisting man as he was lying on the floor in a San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit station.
Relatives of 22-year-old Oscar Grant III were infuriated when Judge Robert Perry gave Mehserle, 28, the miniumum two-year sentence for involuntary manslaughter, and some walked out of the Los Angeles courtroom, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.
The case over Grant’s slaying on New Year’s Day 2009 in an Oakland, Calif., BART station was recorded on video. It was tried in Los Angeles because of the strong feelings it elicited among the public closer to home, in an effort to find impartial jurors.
Meanwhile, a defense lawyer and relatives of Mehserle, who testified that he shot Grant accidentally when he reached for his Taser stun gun and instead pulled out his service weapon, argued that he should have gotten probation–or, better yet, never been charged in Grant’s killing, according to the Associated Press.
“I did the best I could with this case,” the judge told those in the courtroom. “My decisions today will not be well-received by many people. I’m sorry for that.”
Several hundred individuals protested nonviolently at Oakland’s city hall after the sentencing, reports the L.A. Now blog of the Los Angeles Times.
Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley said in a written statement that her office “will now evaluate all legal options” before deciding whether to appeal, the Chronicle reports. The defense has already decided to appeal.
Federal authorities are also investigating a potential rights case.
One civil lawsuit against BART over Grant’s death has been settled for $1.5 million and others are pending.
Mehserle and his partner are appealing their terminations by BART earlier this year.
Additional coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Cop Charged With On-Duty Murder in Transit Shooting Captured on Cell Video”
San Francisco Chronicle: “Mehserle convicted of involuntary manslaughter”
Oakland Tribune: “Mehserle won’t get maximum sentence, legal experts say”
Associated Press: “Convicted ex-officer talks about train shooting”
