Johannes Mehserle

Johannes Mehserle is a resigned Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police officer in Oakland, California, who was charged in the shooting of 22-year-old Oscar Grant III. The shooting took place on a station platform on January 1, 2009, while Oscar was unarmed.http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/07/MN2N155BAH.DTL The shooting was captured on video, and then distributed throughout the internet. By resigning, Mehserle was able to avoid being fired or making a public statement.http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/14/BART.shooting.arrest/

The family of Grant filed a wrongful death and civil rights lawsuit on March 2, 2009. The victim's family is seeking $50 million, which was doubled from the claim the family attorney had originally made. http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/03/03/bart.lawsuit/index.html An Almeda County judge then ruled to move the case against Mehserle forward. He was charged with first-degree murder, and the county DA submitted a gag order to withhold information to be released in public. The ruling was made on June 5, 2009.http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/04/bart.transit.officer.murder.charge/index.html

On November 5, 2010 Mehserie went to trial in Los Angeles. He was given a two year sentence in prison for fatally shooting Oscar Grant. During the trial, Mehserie claimed that he was intending to use his electric Taser, and that he feared Grant had a firearm. Witnesses to the crime also said that Mehserie looked surprised after the shooting. The family of Grant declined to talk to reporters and his mother stated "nothing, he got nothing."http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/11/bart-officer-sentenced.html

According to reports, BART police responded to a fight at the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland, California, around 2 a.m. on January 1, 2009. Cell phone video taken by a train passenger appears to show Oscar Grant III being shot in the back by an officer while lying on the platform. Grant, who was reportedly unarmed at the time of the shooting, died of his injuries.http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_11369592?source%253Dmost_emailed.26978592730A3B8C7F471EACE0DA4EF2.html

Mehserle was arrested in Nevada in relation to Grant's murder on January 13, 2009. Mehserle had been moving from place to place because he had received death threats.http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/14/BART.shooting.arrest/ On January 15, 2009, Mehserle pleaded not guilty to fatally shooting Grant. http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/16/BART.shooting.plea/index.html On January 30, 2009, bail was set for Mehserle at $3 million. He posted bond on February 6, 2009, and was released from prison later the same day.http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_11647287?nclick_check=1