Former BART officer convicted of involuntary manslaughter

[Love As Arson]

A former transit police officer who fatally shot an unarmed man at an Oakland train station was convicted of involuntary manslaughter Thursday, capping a racially charged case that raised fears in the Bay Area of possible violence after the verdict.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bart-verdict-20100709,0,4753049.story

[GeeBee]

The same state that gave you OJ Simpson ladies and gentlemen. Anyone who expected a fair verdict in this case was delusional. Absolutely disgraceful.

[jeremyc]

Didn't see one single protest at, on or near BART today. Glad to see shit didn't go crazy as planned.

Edit: Nvm.

[jwicklun]

Hopefully my brother will not be riding BART tonight....

[tkamB]

I'm disappointed and strongly disagree with the verdict(should have gotten murder in the second degree), but I'm happy that so far there hasn't been rioting. Hopefully nothing escalates and gets out of hand.

[jwicklun]

Agreed. Bad decision, but rioting does no good for either side.

[Manicapathy]

Mehserle testified that he thought he was pulling out his electric Taser weapon and not a firearm.


Wow....... I just....wow.

[Alou]

Saw the actual video of him shooting the guy. Deserves far worse.

[coma]

I'm not surprised. Justice usually isn't served to those who serve and protect. Do I think Mehserle made a legit mistake? Yes. Did that mistake cost a young man his life? Yes. It's not involuntary manslaughter. There was no moment to be caught up in. His partner had his/her knee on Oscar Grants head, and he mercy killed him. Whether it was an accident or not doesn't change the fact that he was violently murdered at a time when he was totally subdued. I just hope they put this guy amongst the general population in San Quentin.

[GoWaitInTheCar]

I saw the video. The guy was lying on the ground and his friend next to him had his hands up. This is just awful.

[Healthy Scratch]

usually i take supposed police brutality incidents with a grain of salt, but i just saw the video. this one's legitimately wrong. rioting isn't the answer but this cop definately deserves a lot worse.

[zion the lion]

I was waiting for this thread yesterday...anyway, I have a taser, I've held a cop's taser and I've played with enough guns to know when you grab one instead of the other that something is a little off.

[jwicklun]

I think a taser feels a little bit different from a gun. As much as I disagree with the outcome of the trial, looting, stealing and destroying property only makes things worse. From what I see in the news, things aren't terrible and the police are acting accordingly. Hopefully no one does anything stupid....

[Skadrist]

The cop's issue pistol was about 4 times as heavy as his taser. Hell, you can notice the difference in weight when a pistol has a full magazine and when it doesn't. While I do understand that tasers try to match the ergonomics of pistols I just don't see who you can confuse the difference in materials and weight of a pistol and a taser.

[x togepi x]

that excuse sounds like something i'd come up with when i was five and i just got caught breaking my mom's antique vase.