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.
Back in November, demonstrations in Oakland turned riotous when the verdict and sentence were released, leading to the arrests of some 80 protestors. At the time, a spokesman for the Grant family said, "A small step was made in the prosecuting of Mr. Mehserle, but a giant step was not made for justice." - A statement echoed as family now calls Mehserle chances for release "a slap in the face."
As the Appeal points out, a civil case filed by Grant's family and seven of his friends who were with him on the night of the incident is seeking $50 million in damages from the transit agency. That case is expected to go to trial sometime this fall.
