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Transit cop convicted of fatally shooting unarmed commuter could be released in June
Supporters of Oscar J. Grant III hold a rally in South Central Los Angeles after the involuntary manslaughter verdict against the former Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) officer Johannes Mehserle was announced, on July 8, 2010
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Transit cop convicted of fatally shooting unarmed commuter could be released in June
Transit cop convicted of fatally shooting unarmed commuter could be released in June
The former transit cop who’s serving a 2-year prison sentence for the fatal shooting of a Bay Area commuter on New Year’s Day two years ago could leave jail as early as mid-June.
Bay Area Rapid Transit policeman Johannes Mehserle shot and killed an unarmed Oscar Grant as he lay face down on a train platform. The transit cop later said it was an accident: he’d thought he was firing his stun gun. A jury in Los Angeles, where the trial moved because of intense publicity and protests in the Bay Area, appeared to believe Mehserle and convicted him of involuntary manslaughter.
The former transit officer has spent 11 months of a two-year sentence at Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail. But credit for time served could secure his release within a few weeks. That’s the next time Mehserle is scheduled to appear in a Los Angeles courtroom. Officials plan to place Mehserle on parole. His attorney says the former transit cop plans to look for a job in sales or business - and to stay in California for now.
The victim’s relatives in Oakland have filed a federal civil suit. They want the Justice Department to file federal charges against Mehserle and other BART police present at Oscar Grant's killing in the early hours of New Year’s Day 2009.
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