Experts feel BART officer will be charged in shooting death Mehserle raised in Napa; New Tech and NVC grad
Published 6:28 PM in By shearoc
4 p.m.SAN FRANCISCO — Widely aired video shows a BART police officer who grew up in Napa fatally shooting an unarmed black man lying face down on an Oakland train platform in the third hour of the New Year.
Those few seconds of grainy images have created tremendous legal and political pressures for Alameda County District Attorney Thomas Orloff, who must decide whether to charge Johannes Mehserle for the killing of Oscar Grant, 22.
Mehserle, 27, is a 2000 graduate of New Technology High School in Napa and a 2006 graduate of the Napa Valley College Police Academy.
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.
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.
But legal experts said Orloff probably will charge the former officer with something, possibly voluntary manslaughter, after reviewing video of the shooting and results of a BART police investigation. Orloff, a prosecutor since 1970, said he will decide by next week whether to file charges.
Cellphone video of the shooting was aired widely on television and the Internet, stoking longstanding mistrust of law enforcement by many in Oakland’s African-American community.
Cellphone video of the shooting was aired widely on television and the Internet, stoking longstanding mistrust of law enforcement by many in Oakland’s African-American community.
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. Activists have called for another protest Wednesday, culminating in a march to Orloff’s office.
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.
Johannes Mehserle’s father made a statement to the Register last week through a family friend — Napa County Supervisor Bill Dodd.
“You couldn’t write a script with more subplots,” said Darryl Stallworth, who worked as a prosecutor for Orloff for 13 years.
Stallworth said Orloff and his deputies are probably sorting through scores of witness accounts and viewing the videos frame by frame to determine if charges are warranted. “I suspect, from what I can see in the videos, there is going to be a charge,” he said.
Former San Francisco District Attorney Terrence Hallinan said the shooting appears to be “negligent homicide” and likely will lead to criminal charges.
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.
They 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.”
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. Activists have called for another protest Wednesday, culminating in a march to Orloff’s office.
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.
Johannes Mehserle’s father made a statement to the Register last week through a family friend — Napa County Supervisor Bill Dodd.
“He told me that his number one concern is for the safety of his immediate family and getting some help in that regard,” Dodd said.
“It has been terrifying for them. They are really being terrorized at this time. The entire family, not just Johannes, is getting death threats. They have been forced to move” from their Napa home, Dodd said.
“It has been terrifying for them. They are really being terrorized at this time. The entire family, not just Johannes, is getting death threats. They have been forced to move” from their Napa home, Dodd said.
“You couldn’t write a script with more subplots,” said Darryl Stallworth, who worked as a prosecutor for Orloff for 13 years.
Stallworth said Orloff and his deputies are probably sorting through scores of witness accounts and viewing the videos frame by frame to determine if charges are warranted. “I suspect, from what I can see in the videos, there is going to be a charge,” he said.
Former San Francisco District Attorney Terrence Hallinan said the shooting appears to be “negligent homicide” and likely will lead to criminal charges.
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.
They 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.”
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