Jun 18, 2009 8:47 pm US/Pacific
BART Cop's Murder Trial Set For October
OAKLAND (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ―
-
-
Johannes Mehserle sits in court recently.
AP
A former Bay Area Rapid Transit officer accused of murdering an unarmed man at Oakland's Fruitvale BART station will stand trial in October, and his lawyer will ask to move the emotionally charged case to another county.
Johannes Mehserle pleaded not guilty Thursday in Alameda County Superior Court to murdering 22-year-old Oscar Grant on New Year's Day. Mehserle shot Grant while he was lying face down on the platform after Grant and his friends were pulled off a train for allegedly fighting about 2 a.m.
Also Thursday, defense attorney Michael Rains told Judge Morris Jacobson that he planned to file a change of venue request in the next few months. Rains said he does not believe Mehserle would get a fair trial in Alameda County.
The case has fueled tension between Oakland's black community and law enforcement. Mehserle, who resigned a week after the shooting, is white. Grant, a Hayward resident who worked as a butcher at Farmer Joe's grocery store in Oakland and was the father of a young girl, was black.
Rains has argued that Mehserle, 27, meant to use his stun gun to restrain Grant, but accidentally pulled his pistol. He also alleged that Grant was resisting arrest. Rains said Mehserle therefore should only stand trial on manslaughter charges, not murder charges.
The lawyer tried unsuccessfully to persuade a judge during a preliminary hearing that there wasn't enough evidence for the murder charge.
Rains said Thursday that he also intended to file a motion to throw out Judge C. Don Clay's decision two weeks ago to allow Mehserle to stand trial for murder.
At the end of the preliminary hearing Clay said, "There is no doubt in my mind that Mr. Mehserle intended to shoot Oscar Grant with a gun, not a Taser."
Judge Jacobson set three dates in the case: July 24 for the motion to throw out the ruling that Mehserle could stand trial for murder; Sept. 11 for the change of venue hearing; and Oct. 13 for a trial.
During Thursday's hearing, Jacobson asked Rains to read a recent newspaper article in which Rains was quoted as saying he didn't think Mehserle could get a fair trial because he felt the county's judicial system has a bias against Mehserle.
Jacobson asked Rains if he was quoted accurately in the article and the defense lawyer said he was.
Jacobson then reminded Rains and prosecutor David Stein that there is a gag order barring attorneys from talking about the evidence in the case.
"As we approach the trial, I'm going to caution both sides to mind yourselves when you speak to the press," Jacobson said, warning that he would impose sanctions against anyone who violated the gag order.
Rains has said that he feels free to discuss possible motions in the case because he believes that the gag order only applies to evidence in the case, not motions.
After Thursday's hearing, Grant's uncle, Cephus Johnson, contended Mehserle could get a fair trial in Alameda County because it has a diverse mix of people.
Johnson said, "Alameda County doesn't just consist of Oakland. There's no reason why a good jury can't be selected."
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.)
BART Shooting Cell Phone Video (Graphic)
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Comments