A group called No Justice, No Bart will hold a rally to protest Sunday's officer-involved shooting of Charles Hill, 45, a man with no fixed address. If you recall, two BART cops responded to reports of a "wobbly drunk" caucasian man in "tie-dye and military fatigues" at Civic Center around 9:45 p.m, but the confrontation was over in less than a minute when one of the officers shot the suspect in the torso. This most recent shooting, of course, brings to mind Oscar Grant, a now-canonized East Bay man famously shot and killed by Johannes Mehserle on New Year's Day 2009. more ›

Johannes Mehserle, the former BART cop sentenced to two years in prison for the involuntary manslaughter of Oscar Grant, is scheduled to be back in court for a hearing on June 1st where according to ABC7, the judge is expected to let him walk with credit for time served and good behavior. Mehserle has been in prison in LA for the past 10 months, but assuming the hearing goes as expected, he'll be out well before the 1-year anniversary of his sentencing. more ›

John Burris, the Grant family's civil attorney, gave a lengthy statement for the press following the sentencing of Johannes Mehserle. Burris, who has been present at the trial along with the Grant family, spoke about injustice in the legal system and his surprise that Judge Perry would make a motion for a new trial on the gun enhancement, but then dismiss that charge altogether. more ›

As many of you know by now, Johannes Mehserle received the minimum sentence of 2 years jail time, with time-served credit attached. In all, the former BART cop, convicted of killing Oscar Grant on New Year's Day 2009, will serve somewhere around 70 days in state prison. more ›

BART cop Johannes Mehserle, convicted of killing Oscar Grant on a Fruitvale platform on New Year's Day2009, will finally hear his sentence on Friday. "The sentence could range from 14 years in prison to probation," reports KGO. "Prosecutors are calling for prison time, but Mehserle's attorney is asking for probation on the grounds that the shooting was a tragic accident." more ›

At last night's victorious playoff game, a mini brouhaha went down in McCovey Cove, drama that started in September after a pro-Johannes Mersherle hoisted up during a Giants game. more ›

During a tearful interview with KTVU at San Jose City Hall, Todd Mehserle, father of convicted BART cop Johannes, said that his son "is in the wrong place" and that "it's a very, very slippery slope when we start to send people to work with guns and not only civilly convict them, but criminally." more ›

Here's the letter of apology (.pdf) from Johannes Mehserle, the BART police officer convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Oscar Grant, written on Sunday, July 4, days before his verdict was announced. Here it is in its entirety: more ›

The federal government has decided to intervene following yesterday's verdict in the trial of Johannes Mehserle. The Justice Department's civil rights division, along with the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco and the FBI... more ›

Here's some raw footage, shot by ABC 7, intended to make you believe Oakland was just a big chaotic bonfire following the Mehserle verdict. In actuality, these were just a few fiery dumpsters full of trash, surrounded by a lot of people waiting for something exciting to happen. There seems to have been a relatively contained protest in the early evening, followed by a relatively predictable, after-dark bout of anarchy (including the looting of a single Foot Locker, according to the Oakland Tribune), and at about 1:15 in the video, you can see the street lights go out, which makes everything seem more exciting, lit only by the fires. more ›

Well, that was fast. The San Francisco Chronicle has declared involuntary manslaughter "the right verdict in Mehserle case." Way to wait a day or two to let things settle. Or sink in. Sheesh. (Read SFist's continuing coverage of the verdict reaction.) more ›

Images from Oakland shortly after the Johannes Mehserle verdict was announced. more ›

BART cop Johannes Mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter today. Do you agree with the jury? more ›

A Los Angeles jury reached a verdict: BART cop Johannes Mehserle is guilty of involuntary manslaughter. He was convicted of killing Oscar Grant on New Year's Day 2009. more ›

The jury has reached a verdict in the Mehserle case. more ›

The Mehserle jury is in recess now until 9 a.m. tomorrow, Thursday. The day was cut short after a juror had to go to a doctor's appointment this afternoon. The jury, according to SFGate, "deliberated for less than three hours - from just after 9 a.m. to about 11:45 a.m." more ›

Jurors in the Johannes Mehserle trial down in L.A. deliberated for a just few hours on Thursday before being set free for a four-day holiday weekend. They begin again this morning, however one juror, who had a previously scheduled vacation that starts tomorrow, might throw a wrench in the works if they don't reach a verdict by the end of today. An alternate juror will have to be called in tomorrow if they can't reach a consensus, and then deliberations will need to restart from the beginning. more ›

While we wait for the Johannes Mehserle case to conclude--for those of you who recently rose from a coma, the BART cop is on trial for the shooting death of Oscar Grant on New Year's Day 2009--here are some scenes of Oakland during its supposed antediluvian stage, waiting for what will come once the verdict is announced. more ›

As the Mehserle closing arguments wrap up, on Thursday, the Chronicle reports, jurors "were told that the video-recorded killing during an arrest at BART's Fruitvale Station in Oakland was either an intentional act by a cop who 'lost all control' or a tragic accident by an officer who intended to subdue a suspect with a Taser." more ›

Oakland riots, will they or won't they happen? Johannes Mehserle, the BART cop accused of killing Oscar Grant at the Frutivale station, could face 2nd degree murder (15 years - life), voluntary manslaughter (3 - 11 years), involuntary manslaughter (2 - 4 years), or acquittal. If the latter verdict is read in court, the city of Oakland could explode to bits. Or not. more ›

As the Mehserle defense rests its case today, former San Francisco Police Chief Frank Jordan told SF Weekly that he's not buying Mehserle's story. "My personal opinion is, [Mehserle's story] is pretty hard to believe," Jordan tells the Weekly. "I don't see myself ever pulling out a handgun when I wanted to use a Taser. The handgun is absolute last resort. The Taser is supposed to minimize the situation so you don't kill somebody. It's an interesting alibi and I'm not sure it's one I buy into." While he doesn't think Mehserle killed Oscar Grant in cold blood -- no one suspects that's the case, save a few aggressively earnest first-year Cal students -- the former Chief presumes the infamous BART cop "was under emotional stress" and panicked. [SFW] more ›

According to Beth Spotswood at Eye On Blogs, things took a turn for the LA Law-ish during today's Mehserle trial. It seems that, while testifying about shooting Oscar Grant, BART cop Johannes Mehserle broke down in tears and started shouting. more ›

As the Johannes Mehserle trial starts today, the prosecution has a surprise that might not bode well for the former BART cop accused of murdering Oscar Grant. See, according to BCN (via CBS 5), "Prosecutors said Wednesday they have a cell phone picture taken by Oscar Grant of then-BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle pointing his Taser at Grant, just minutes before Grant was shot on New Year's Day 2009." more ›

Judge Robert Perry denied "a defense motion to allow police officers to be part of the jury pool for the upcoming trial" of Johannes Mehserle, the BART cop accused of murdering Oscar Grant at the Fruitvale station on New Year's Day 2009. The defense made the (inane?) request, but state law "prohibits peace officers from serving as jurors in criminal cases." [via CBS 5/AP] more ›

BART purged itself of another cop (tangentially?) involved in the 2009 New Year's Day shooting of Oscar Grant. BART cop Tony Pirone, accused of being an "instigator" in the shooting, was fired this week after the April 9 protests demanded his removal. BCN (via SF Appeal) reports that John Burris, the attorney who filed a $50 million wrongful death and civil rights lawsuit against BART on behalf of Grant's family, hailed Pirone's firing as "terrific," going on to say, "It's about time" and "[b]ut for (Pirone's) conduct, Oscar Grant would not be dead." This comes on the heels of the firing of BART cop Marysol Domenici, who along with Pirone were the first to arrive at the Frutivale station on that fateful day. more ›

At the risk of putting a price tag on the life of Oscar Grant, or anyone for that matter, $1.5 million is the amount for Oscar Grant, the rapscallion who was shot and killed by a BART officer on New Year's Day 2009 at the Fruitvale station. CBS 5 reports that "BART announced it had agreed to the $1.5 million payment with Grant's girlfriend Sophina Mesa, the mother and guardian of his five-year-old daughter, Tatiana." Johannes Mehserle, the BART cop officers accused of murdering Grant, pleaded not guilty in the case. He is expected to go on trial in Los Angeles in May.
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Important news about the Mehserle murder case unfolded today. As most of you know by now, the case has been moved to Los Angeles, as ordered by a judge. What's more, the man who ordered Anna Nicole Smith's ex-boyfriend and two doctors to stand trial on charges of drugging the icon to death, Judge Robert Perry, will be assigned to the infamous BART cop killer case. more ›

After this weekend's headline-churning incident featuring a BART cop protecting passengers from unruly, drunk Michael Joseph Gibson, 37 -- the twist being that the officer accidentally (?) broke a pane of glass during the arrest at the West Oakland Station -- Assemblymember Tom Ammiano released the following statement: more ›

At a court hearing this afternoon in Oakland, Judge Morris Jacobson of Alameda County Superior Court decided to move the trial of Johannes Mehserle to Los Angeles in an effort to get a fair trail. Jacobson promised in September that the trial would move out of the area. more ›

Declaring that he couldn't get a fair trial because of public outrage and we-are-all-Oscar-Grant fetishism, Judge Morris Jacobson ruled that Officer Johannes Mehserle, the BART cop accused of murdering Oscar Grant on New Year's Day, will get to have his trial moved out of Alameda County. In a court order, Jacobson wrote, "This case ... presents a grouping of factors that foreclose any real hope of insulating jurors from the pressure of the public outrage in Alameda County," Jacobson wrote in a 28-page order. "Defendant has met his burden of showing there is a reasonable probability that he cannot get a fair trial in Alameda County." A hearing at a later date will decide where, exactly, the trial will take place. more ›