Jul 07 2010
Trial in Shooting Murder of Oscar Grant Ends, Jury Deliberations Restart
As Oakland residents and police officers braced themselves for riots, yesterday’s expected verdict on the Johannes Mehserle trial was abruptly delayed. Jury deliberations closed when one juror called in sick. Another juror left for vacation and was replaced by an alternate. As a result, deliberations are expected to begin from scratch today. A young black man named Oscar Grant and his friends were riding the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train on New Years morning 2009 when they clashed with BART police. Two police officers forcefully restrained the men and pushed Grant to the ground, face-down. A third officer, Johannes Mershele, reached into his belt holster and shot Grant in the back, instantly killing the 23 year old. Neither Grant nor his friends were armed. Instead of trying Mehserle in an Oakland court, the murder case against him was moved to the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Last week, the Court’s Judge Robert Perry declared the shooting wasn’t premeditated and therefore doesn’t qualify as first-degree murder. The jury is now left with four ruling options for Mehserle: second-degree murder, voluntary or involuntary manslaughter, and acquittal. Protesters rallied in both Los Angeles and Oakland during the last week of the trial. Many are angered at the defense’ argument that Merhsele accidentally shot Grant when he actually meant to tase him. The trial’s relocation to LA and the resulting white and Latino jury also caused contention. Those rallying for justice for Oscar Grant now hope for a second-degree murder charge. If the jury rules otherwise, major protests are expected in LA and Oakland. Activists in both cities are holding their breaths for an indefinite time until the final verdict is reached.
GUEST: Thandisizwe Chimurenga, KPFK Programmer, and an embedded journalist with the LA Coalition for Justice for Oscar Grant, Julianne Hing, reporter covering the trial for Colorlines Magazine
Learn more about the LA Coalition for Justice for Oscar Grant at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/group.php?gid=259072433034&ref=search
To receive receive information on your phone about the trial, text “trial” to 213-973-3434.
In LA, people will be gathering on the corner of Temple and Broadway as soon as the verdict is announced, no matter what time of day. People will also gather in Leimert Park at 5 pm the day of or the day after the verdict is announced, whichever is earlier.
In the Bay area, people are gathering on the corner of 14th and Broadway in Oakland at 6 pm the day of or the day after the verdict is announced, whichever is earlier.
Read Colorlines Magazine’s coverage of the trial here: http://colorlines.com/archives/author/julianne-hing/
5 Responses to “Trial in Shooting Murder of Oscar Grant Ends, Jury Deliberations Restart”
America, this entire situation is terribly unfortunate for both sides and I truly mean that! I live in the city of Oakland. Matter of fact, I live only six blocks from the Fruitvale BART station were this incident took place. My first thought is that, Oscar Grant and his family deserves justice. Too many times, African-American youths, in the city of Oakland fall victim at the hands of the police and at higher rates than any other race.
Nevertheless, police officers have the unyielding responsibility of accurately determining how much force to use in any situation and most of the times they don’t get a second chance. All they can do is give their best reaction based on some level of training and experience while hoping that their partner or team is covering their six. In this case, an inexperience and inadequately trained police officer working for a police department that has a long history of demonstrating violence towards African-Americans intended to use a non-lethal force that was unnecessary, but made the mistake of pulling the wrong weapon which cost a human life. My heart goes out to Mershele’s family.
Now everyone is looking to see who is to blame and decide what is exactly on trial here? Are we blaming Oscar Grant and his friends for committing a misdemeanor crime of jumping a BART turnstile and resisting arrest? Are we blaming the White police officer, Johannes Mershele for using unwarranted force and then accidentally pulling the wrong weapon which resulted in him killing an unarmed person? Or are we, once again, putting the Oakland Police Department on trail for its traditional practice of racially profiling African-Americans and its inadequate training its police force? Where ever the blame falls, all I know is that one person is dead, another will most likely spend many years in prison and the Oakland Police Department will probably continue, like it has for years.
Just a detail error here you might want to correct. Oscar Grant died at Highland Hospital seven hours after he was shot and not instantly as this article claims
LMAO!! Love them!!
Let the jews think money is all that matters, when it is the TRUTH OF THE FACTS that will be their demise.
Until recently, Ive considered Toyota one of the top foreign/domestic auto builders. However, I find these types of excuses weak. A corporation cannot try to balance between accountability/responsibility and saving face. Doing so compromises both. Taking responsibility and ownership is paramount to stabilizing the long-term reputation of the organization.