Surprisingly little attention has been given to the murder trial of a former police officer who shot 22 year old Oscar Grant in the back at a California BART train station on the first day of 2009. Numerous train riders captured the shooting on their cell phone video cams, and were forced to flee from police, who sought to seize all cameras during the ensuing chaos. Many of the videos of the shooting were then posted on youtube.
The former officer, Johannes Mehserle, claims that he fired his weapon on accident, intending instead to use his tazer. While testifiying in his defense at trial, Mehserle claimed that he had barely ever fired a gun before becoming an officer, maybe only once.
Detective Alex Hidas of the San Leandro police department also testified for the defense. Press reports have noted the D.A.’s less than enthusiastic presentation: “Prosecutors have said Mehserle, 28, intended to shoot Grant, and that he used his weapon because officers were losing control of the situation. However, Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Dave Stein didn’t appear to present much direct evidence that shows Mehserle intentionally shot Grant.”
/snip/
Filed under: Bad Cop News, Constitution, Criminals In Uniform, Police Brutality, Sheer Idiocy, US News
