The jury just convicted former BART officer Mehserle of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting of Oscar Grant. I really want to hear what you feel about this verdict.
Give me your thoughts, and I will let you know what I believe after we have collected about 24 hours of comments.
Are you surprised?
Is this the right verdict?
Was it motivated by a fear of riots?
Should he have been convicted or murder?
Thanks and look forward to hearing your input!
Dear Philosopher,
I am very concerned for Mr. Mehserle, but in a way I want to wait until after the sentencing. Some are saying 2-4 years, some are saying 10 years plus. I think it should be zero, or time served.
I watched many of the videos. They are all incomplete. I think Officer Mehserle did not mean to kill anyone. He was in a highly charged situation and wanted to get Mr. Grant and his fellow officers out of the increasingly dangerous surroundings they were in. A riot in a Bart station would be no joke. Not only was it crowded, and the group tending toward explosion, but the terrain is enclosed and has hazardous areas like tracks, electrical hazards, et cetera.
The BART police were outnumbered. For survival reasons alone, Mr. Mehserle would not have wanted to kill Mr. Grant. I don’t think he would have wanted to anyway.
I was surprised though, the involuntary manslaughter is a better verdict than I expected. The way the papers are describing it, the jury was more interested in their vacation than a riot. I think it’s highly likely there just wasn’t a case. I wonder if a verdict of not guilty ever crossed the jury’s minds and was dismissed b/c of riot or to reach a quick consensus so they could get out of all this.
I hope they appeal this case forever. In the meantime, I remain concerned for Mr. Mehserle’s life if he ever gets to a California prison.
No one wanted Mr. Grant to die. I believe Mr. Mehserle never wished it either. I regret Mr. Grant’s death, and I regret that former Officer Mehserle’s life is forever changed.
Sincerely yours,
Ann T.
It must have been awful to be called to a scene of chaos, not knowing fully what you will face and then this tragedy happens. I didn’t get the sense from anything I came across that this was intentional. I believe the officer, in the midst of a chaotic situation, went for the wrong weapon. I feel bad for the officer. Very sad situation all around.
Dear Philosopher,
I ended up posting on this subject (words and words worth). I wrote you on ning–b/c I was slightly confused–however, I eventually worked it out. Sorry about that!
Anyway, I want to know what you think. Please don’t give up on the blog world quite yet. I have learned a great deal here.
Ann T.
P.S. Clady, you and I are much of a mind here.
I hate monday night quaterbacking. As I’ve had it done to me while going through a Fed. case a year ago. (I won!) But he screwed up.
My issue is a conviction and a statement I read relating to a bystanders account of the incident which she later told on the stand. He commented that the Ofcr. said he was “tired of this” (or something like that) and that meant he was so worked up and wanting to kill suspect that he meant to shoot him.
Anyone in a fight lasting longer than 1 punch would also probably get tired of resistance. Had suspect just obeyed, we would never have gotten here. Now i hear San Jose is wearing “Taser’s” head cameras (mandatory). Oh my!
Are you serious??? Head cameras!!!
They are afraid of riots. This apparently was not the “right” verdict since the Justice Dept is now opening a civil rights case on the same charge with stronger possible penalties. Ah, where have we seen this play before?
I agree. The Federal side is always interesting, yes?
Dear Xak:
We saw the Feds intervene in the case of Chicago’s Bill Cozzi, for one thing.
I’ll start off by saying that I didn’t follow the trial itself very closely, so I haven’t really heard all of the evidence presented, but I do agree with what Mr. Police Man said about how the BART officer in this case did screw up. I feel that the verdict in this case is appropriate, because while I do believe that the officer had no intention to kill Grant, his negligence or inability to handle the situation directly lead to his death. Just like if one of us killed someone in a car accident by unintentionally driving on the wrong side of the road, the officer here killed someone by unintentionally drawing the wrong weapon, and in that case he is guilty of the crime of involuntarily killing someone. Police are put in very difficult situations, but they are also responsible for their actions. Most of the time I know the situation and problems faced by Officers are not understood by the public, but in this case there’s no argument that the shooting was justified, and this verdict seems to accurately reflect what happened.
Also, I just want to thank you for posting again on the website. I was worried that once you went to twitter (which I am not currently on) that we’d lose you forever. Thanks for keeping the discussion alive- I’m always interested to hear your and the other commenters on this website’s opinion.
I almost did the same thing, I pulled my gun instead of my taser. I didn’t realize it until the other officer’s eyes were popping out of his head looking at my weapon. I could have shot it. And I would be in jail right now? It’s all about reflexes. Ever watch the olympics and say, how do you pick a winner when they are only 2/6th’s of a second behind? Well, we only have that much time a fraction of a second, and our reflexes are on the same time zone
Are you surprised? Not really. I think this is about what everyone felt was best.
Is this the right verdict? I don’t know. Looking at it over and over I think this was the middle ground, and for that the best, but what is right I don’t know
Was it motivated by a fear of riots? I think on some level it was.
Should he have been convicted or murder?
I don’t think murder would have been the best pick in this case. Yes it was wrong, and so very wrong. However, I dont think it was murder. The officer let the stress get to him.
I think the verdict was just. I think he meant to grab his taser and instead grabbed his gun, so involuntary manslaughter is right on. Just because he is a police officer does not mean he is above the law. I feel sorry for him, but he should be treated as anyone else would be in that situation. No one should ever be able to kill someone and then hid behind the badge to avoid the laws that should governor us all.