I am literally speechless, was not expecting this at all.
Former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle must stand trial for murder in the New Year's Day shooting death of an unarmed man, an Alameda County judge ruled today.After hearing seven days of testimony since May 17, Superior Court Judge C. Don Clay said prosecutors had presented ample evidence to show that Mehserle could be found guilty of murdering Oscar Grant, 22, at the Fruitvale Station in Oakland.
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Thank God. For once the police aren't deemed to have been making a "judgement call" and will face justice.
This is great news, but we shouldn't get too excited. The legal standard for allowing a criminal complaint to proceed from a preliminary hearing to a trial is fairly low and not that difficult to meet. The standard for conviction, "proof beyond a reasonable doubt", is much harder.
Word. How often are cops actually convicted of crimes committed "in the line of duty?" I started typing a list of famous cases where the cops involved walked, but the list quickly got long (and that's just famous cases) and depressing.
The civil court system tends to be more effective at going after these scum. The killer of a 12-year-old who was shot in the back in Pittsburgh a while back was cleared of wrong-doing but got slapped with a multi-mullion dollar lawsuit and lost. Course, the same cop just killed another guy last November.
Here's hopin there's some measure of justice.
I am very glad to see this issue on Feinisting. I think the judge's decision was correct, a very rare occurrence, and also agree that it is only a "holding order" for trial: no cop has ever been convicted for an on-the-job murder. According to DOJ at least 1000 people are shot to death by police each year, and very very few are charged with anything.I was in the courtroom for most of the hearing and wrote reports on the proceedings (for Revolution newspaper, see revcom.us). There was outrageous testilying by the cops and courageous testimony by the people on the train who turned on their cameras when they saw the police brutality begin to go down. I think it is very important that people stay tuned and stay active to demand justice in this case.
Obviously! The Bay Area may be a lot of things, but it still isn't a place where some people are above the law.
Frankly, I'd be surprised if he isn't found guilty.
Praise God! Now maybe there will be justice for this heinous crime.
Feministing. Love your site more than anything, you guys are great. But please, PLEASE, stop with the "I have no words" or "this makes me speechless" nonsense that is seen in so many of your posts. It's a touch tedious, and we know you do in fact have the words to express how you feel.
Haha! I guess we do have the words don't we...
How is it that Feministing is the ONLY place I have even heard of this case? A cop shoots someone in cold blood, it's caught on tape, and there is zero about it on the news?