BART Police Officer Arrested In Connection With Fatal Shooting

Tuesday, January 13, 2009 – updated: 9:59 pm PST January 13, 2009
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Several well-placed sources are telling KTVU news that a warrant was issued for former BART officer Johannes Mehserle and that Mehserle is now in custody.

Mehserle was the officer involved in the New Year's Day fatal shooting of 22-year-old Oscar Grant on the platform of the Fruitvale BART station.

KTVU sources say Mehserle was some distance from the Bay Area when he was taken into custody and won't arrive at the jail Tuesday night. Published reports indicate the BART police officer was arrested in Nevada.

Another source says when he does arrive, Mehserle will be booked into the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. And yet another source tells KTVU Mehserle is being held on a no-bail warrant.

So far, it has not been determined if Mehserle was taken into custody on an open warrant or a murder warrant. Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff is scheduled to hold a news conference Wednesday to reveal more information on the arrest.

The news comes on the eve of a large demonstration planned for Wednesday to protest the New Year's Day shooting of Grant.

Police officials met Tuesday with protest organizers to discuss security plans for the 4 p.m. event on the steps of City Hall. Protesters also intend to march to the Alameda County District Attorney's office to call for criminal charges against former BART officer Johannes Mehserle.

Witnesses say Mehserle shot Grant in the back while he was lying facedown on a train platform.

Several protests already have taken place, including one last week that turned violent. More than 100 people were arrested, and as many as 45 businesses were damaged.

Police say they expect about 1,000 people to turn out for Wednesday's protest.

Speculation over what the Alameda County District Attorney would do in the case has been rampant ever since BART concluded its investigation and turned evidence over to the DA's office on Monday.

Former prosecutors, law school professors and other legal analysts said the case boils down to Mehserle's reason for pulling the trigger and his state of mind. And they said that task is complicated by Mehserle's resignation from the Bay Area Rapid Transit police department and his refusal to speak with investigators.

Politically powerful black ministers have trekked to Orloff's office to urge him to prosecute the case, which also is being investigated by the Oakland Police Department.

State Attorney General Jerry Brown has assigned a prosecutor to monitor the case, and the U.S. Department of Justice has dispatched mediators to help avert violent protests such as one in Oakland last week.

Orloff, a Republican who has run unopposed for district attorney four times on a tough-on-crime platform, did not return telephone calls. And Mehserle's lawyer, Christopher Miller, also could not be reached.

"You couldn't write a script with more subplots," said Darryl Stallworth, who worked as a prosecutor for Orloff for 13 years.

Few legal analysts believe Mehserle will face first-degree murder charges because prosecutors would have to convince a jury that the former officer intended to kill Grant.

A less serious manslaughter charge -- either voluntary or involuntary -- is more likely, the analysts speculated.

Voluntary manslaughter carries up to nine years in prison and prosecutors need to convince a jury that the former transit officer's actions were "grossly dangerous or grossly negligent," said Golden Gate University law professor Peter Keane.

Involuntary manslaughter is a much less serious charge and could result in a sentence of probation. To convict Mehserle of that charge, legal experts said, a jury would have to conclude that he acted improperly but accidentally.

A second-degree murder charge carries a potential life sentence, but proving that Mehserle's actions were so outside the norm to warrant such a serious accusation will be difficult, experts said.

"It's hard to argue with those who believe this is a crime," said Jim Hammer, a former San Francisco prosecutor who helped win a second-degree murder conviction for Marjorie Knoller after her vicious dogs fatally mauled a neighbor in 2001. "But were the actions so outrageous that he didn't care about life?"

Michael Rains, a former police officer who defends them now as a lawyer, said he expects Orloff to charge Mehserle because of the case's high profile. Rains said that prosecutors often "overcharge" a case to position themselves for a plea bargaining.

The attorney said he expects Mehserle to raise a self-defense argument because he was responding to reports of a brawl and people had not been searched before he arrived at the train station.

Orloff has handled many high-profile Northern California cases, including racially charged accusations that a group of Oakland police officers conspired to plant evidence on hundreds of suspects. Yet, the analysts say, this may be Orloff's thorniest case yet.

"He has a potential Rodney King-debacle developing, and that puts him in a very difficult position," Keane said. "But he can't use this cop as a sacrificial lamb to throw to the mob to lower the political heat."

Copyright 2009 by KTVU.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://www.ktvu.com/news/18464504/detail.html
Former Officer In Fatal BART Shooting Took The Fifth

Monday, January 12, 2009 – updated: 8:06 pm PST January 12, 2009
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle did meet with investigators probing the New Year’s Day fatal shooting of a Hayward man but chose to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights against self incrimination, officials said Monday.

BART general manager Dorothy Dugger and transit police chief Gary Gee told an afternoon news conference that Mehserle was questioned within three hours of the fatal shooting of Oscar Grant III, but quickly asked for an attorney, refusing to cooperate.

The transit agency has been under fire for its handling of the case and among the most emotional complaints was that Mehserle had yet to be questioned. Monday’s announcement was the first public acknowledgement that Mehserle – who has resigned from the BART police force – has been questioned.

Mehserle's attorney, Christopher Miller, did not immediately return a call for comment.

Though officials completed their preliminary investigation of the New Year's Day fatal shooting, BART Police Chief Gary Gee said his department did not make a recommendation on whether charges should be filed against Mehserle.

Witnesses say Mehserle fired into the back of 22-year-old Oscar Grant while the man was lying facedown on a train platform at Oakland's Fruitvale station. Grant and others had been pulled off a train after reports of fighting, as New Year's Eve revelers were shuttling home after midnight.

The shooting was captured on several cell phone cameras and widely viewed on the Internet.

BART officials said their report includes interviews with seven officers and 14 witnesses at the scene. Mehserle, who has resigned from the force, filled out a basic incident report after the shooting but has refused to be interviewed by investigators, Gee said.

"We urge the district attorney to expeditiously review all the evidence available to him and bring this investigation to a conclusion," BART general manager Dorothy Dugger said in a news conference.

Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff has said he hoped to decide by next week whether to bring criminal charges.

Some have speculated that the officer may have intended to fire a stun gun but accidentally pulled his firearm instead.

Gee said Monday that Mehserle did have a stun gun at the time of the shooting -- located on the opposite side of his belt from the firearm -- and did not use it. The chief declined to discuss any other specifics of the report, including whether investigators found the shooting was intentional or accidental.

"It is our hope that this brings everyone one step closer to finding out all relevant details and ensuring this type of incident never repeats itself," Jesse Sekhon, president of the BART Police Officers Association, said in a statement after the news conference.

The shooting has inflamed long-running tensions between law enforcement authorities and many African-American residents in Oakland. Hundreds of protesters have taken to the streets calling for the prosecution of Mehserle, with one rally last Wednesday spiraling into violence and resulting in more than 100 arrests and dozens of businesses damaged.

Gregory Hunter, deputy director of Oakland's Office of Economic Development and Redevelopment, clarified Monday his previous statement that more than 300 businesses were affected by the violence, saying he now estimates no more than 45 were actually damaged.

"The whole world saw what happened. It's a shame and disgrace that this person has not been arrested," U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, said in an interview Monday in Washington.

Asked whether a federal civil rights investigation might be called for, Lee said she wanted to see how the local investigation proceeded but added: "I'm ready to take the next step whatever that might be."

Meanwhile, U.S. Justice Department has sent mediators to Oakland to help resolve the tensions, according to a memo notifying Lee and Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer on Thursday.

The officials are from the department's Community Relations Service, which was created by the 1964 Civil Rights Act to help resolve and prevent racial and ethnic conflict and violence.

The memo, obtained by The Associated Press on Monday, says the mediators will meet with local law enforcement and black community leaders, conduct an assessment and provide any necessary follow-up.

The Oakland Police Department also has launched an independent probe of the shooting, and California Attorney General Jerry Brown said Saturday he would assign a state prosecutor to monitor the local investigation.

Copyright 2009 by KTVU.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.