Mehserle To Stand Trial For Murder Of Oscar Grant

A judge ruled Thursday that there's sufficient evidence to order former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle to stand trial on a murder charge for fatally shooting Oscar Grant III early New Year's Day.

At the end of a preliminary hearing that spanned seven days and featured 18 witnesses, Alameda County Superior Court Judge C. Don Clay said, "There is no doubt in my mind that Mr. Mehserle intended to shoot Oscar Grant with a gun, not a Taser."

The judge said Mehserle's case is "the first time a peace officer has been charged with murder" in California that he's aware of.

Mehserle, 27, shot Grant, a 22-year-old Hayward man, once in the back with his service weapon on the platform of the Fruitvale BART station shortly after 2 a.m. on Jan. 1 after he and other officers were called to reports of a fight on a train.

Clay said Grant and his friends may have been loud and argumentative during the incident but "did nothing to justify the use of force."

He said Mehserle engaged in "a dangerous and deliberate act" and committed "an unlawful killing with malice and without legal justification."

Mehserle's lawyer, Michael Rains, admitted that Mehserle killed Grant but claimed that it was "a tragic accident" because Mehserle meant to use his Taser on Grant and fired his gun by mistake.

Rains said Mehserle shouldn't face murder because there's no evidence that he exhibited malice during the short, two-and-a-half minute time period he was on the station's platform before the shooting, arguing that Mehserle's actions were "consistent with an officer deploying a Taser."

But Clay said he was heavily swayed by eyewitness Daniel Liu, who testified that Mehserle pulled out his gun with his right hand, held the gun with both hands and then fired into Grant.

Clay said that in pulling out his gun with his right hand, which is his strong hand, Mehserle's actions were "totally inconsistent with using your weak hand to use your Taser."

Several BART officers who testified at the hearing said they use their weak hand for their Taser and their strong hand for their gun.

But Dale Allen, a San Francisco attorney who's defending BART against a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of Grant's family by Oakland civil rights attorney John Burris, said after the ruling that Mehserle uses his right hand for both his Taser and his gun.

"That's why there was confusion" on Mehserle's part, said Allen, who attended most of Mehserle's hearing.

Before testimony began Thursday, Rains said he wanted to call to the witness stand a training expert who would testify that Mehserle "probably was ill-trained" in using a Taser and that drawing his gun was an accident.

But Clay didn't allow the expert to testify, saying Rains' offer of proof was "speculation" because the expert "can't tell us his (Mehserle's) motor skills and what he was thinking."

Allen, who confers frequently with Rains, who is not allowed to speak to the press because of a gag order in the case, said the expert would have testified that Mehserle uses his right hand for both his Taser and his gun.

Clay also didn't allow Rains to call another witness whose testimony Rains claimed would indicate that Mehserle "harbored no malice drew his weapon."

The judge's rulings prompted Rains to allege "the court is trying to gut our defense."

Late in the day, Clay also cut short testimony by a defense forensic video expert who was playing an enhanced video of the Fruitvale incident that Rains said indicated that Grant was struggling up to the time that he was shot by Mehserle.

Rains angrily said, "I need more time. I cannot be stopped by the court arbitrarily."

But Clay said, "None of this (the enhanced video) is relevant to the court. There's nothing new in the analysis. The witness (the video expert) wasn't there."

As he walked out of the courtroom during a break that followed Clay's comments, Mehserle's father, Todd Mehserle, muttered, "There is no justice in Oakland. This town is a sham. S-H-A-M."

After Clay ordered Mehserle to stand trial on murder charges, Grant's mother, Wanda Johnson, said, "I know that justice will be served but that still won't bring Oscar Grant back."

Johnson, who sobbed in court when Clay announced his ruling, said she believes that BART police officers "need to handle situations with more sensitivity."

She said she wants to be known for reforming police tactics so that other families "won't have to endure what I've had to endure" in dealing with her son's death.

Johnson said that if Mehserle is convicted of murder, his family will suffer a loss as bad as the loss that she and her family have suffered but "they'll still be able to see him in prison while I have to go to my son's gravesite."

Burris, who sat with Grant's family during most of the hearing, said he believes that prosecutor David Stein "shredded the credibility" of BART police officers who alleged that Grant was resisting arrest throughout the incident.

Burris said Grant was "a peacemaker" during the incident and alleged that the chaos that occurred was caused by BART police officers who were overreacting to the situation.

Cephus Johnson, who is Grant's uncle and Johnson's brother, said the shooting incident "was no accident."

Johnson said that if it had been an accident Mehserle's parents "would have made a public apology" but never have done so.

Clay ordered Mehserle, who looked straight ahead and didn't show any emotion when the ruling was issued, to return to court on June 18 to have a trial date set.

Mehserle remains free in lieu of $3 million bail.