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Oakland BART Shooting UPDATE 'Lawyer: Calif. cop who killed man pulled wrong gun' AP/Breitbart.com

Doug Huffman

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http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D961S0R80&show_article=1&catnum=1

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - The transit officer who shot and killed an unarmed man may have mistakenly pulled his service pistol instead of a stun gun, his lawyer said Friday.

Defense attorney Michael Rains made the argument during a bail hearing for 27-year-old Johannes Mehserle. Alameda County Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson later set bail at $3 million.

Jacobson said he set the high amount in part because he considered Mehserle a flight risk after the former officer fled to Nevada during the initial investigation.

Mehserle was being held Friday at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. It was not immediately clear if he would be able to post bail.

Mehserle has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder in the death of 22-year-old Oscar Grant, who was killed early New Year's Day. Cell phone videos of the incident, widely viewed on the Internet, showed the officer standing over Grant as he was lying facedown on an Oakland train platform and firing one shot into the man's back.

Grant died of a gunshot wound to his torso.

Rains argued Friday that witness accounts indicate that Mehserle meant to draw his Taser, but instead pulled his pistol. The lawyer blamed inexperience by the young officer, who joined the department in March 2007 and passed his Taser user certification test on Dec. 3.

"The bulk of the discovery, including witness and officer statements, seem to indicate that this young officer, who carried a taser for only a few shifts prior to this event, may have mistakenly deployed his service pistol rather than his taser, thus negating any criminal intent," Rains wrote in court documents filed in support of the bail motion.

He told the judge that prosecutors should have charged his client with involuntary manslaughter, not murder.

The court documents contain statements and reports from several officers who were on the platform with Mehserle at the time of the shooting.

The officers—who had just pulled several men, including Grant, from a Bay Area Rapid Transit train after reports of fighting—described the scene as chaotic and confusing.

According to a statement from Officer Tony Pirone, Mehserle told Grant to stop resisting and put his hands behind his back. Then, according to Pirone's statement, Mehserle said: "I'm going to taze him, I'm going to taze him. I can't get his arms. He won't give me his arms. His hands are going for his waistband."

Pirone said he didn't know if Grant was armed, but said Mehserle told him he had believed Grant may have had a weapon.

But Deputy District Attorney John Creighton questioned the defense's account at Friday's hearing, asking why Mehserle said after the shooting that he thought Grant was armed rather than saying he thought he was firing his Taser.

The judge also noted inconsistencies in the defendant's account of the shooting.

"He has the willingness to add to the story, to change the story, to make up something that's not true to avoid consequences," said Jacobson, who imposed a temporary gag order in the case until the next hearing on Feb. 10.

John Burris, an attorney for Grant's family, said relatives were "very, very disappointed."

"In a case of this magnitude, it was certainly our hope that no bail was set," he said.
 

DreQo

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Well at least they charged him appropriately. It is his prerogative to do everything in his power to maintain his innocence. I just hope justice is served.
 

Doug Huffman

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http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D961S0R80&show_article=1&catnum=1
The judge also noted inconsistencies in the defendant's account of the shooting.

"He has the willingness to add to the story, to change the story, to make up something that's not true to avoid consequences," said Jacobson, who imposed a temporary gag order.
Mehserle has lost his credibility with Judge Jacobson who is trying to protect the integrity of the case.
 

Deanimator

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Well, so much for the claims that he HADN'T "fled the jurisdiction" or that he's NOT a "flight risk".

The investigating authorities need to be put on a hot seat as to why he WAS allowed to flee the jurisdiction. If *I* shot an unarmed, immobile person in the back on video, I know *I* wouldn't be allowed to leave Rocky River, much less Ohio regardless of what threats I allegedly received.
 

canadian

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Even if his story is true (And that strains credulity at this point), why was he going to taze an unarmed, immobilized man in the back?

Intent follows the bullet.
 

PaulBlart

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canadian wrote:
Even if his story is true (And that strains credulity at this point), why was he going to taze an unarmed, immobilized man in the back

HOW DARE YOU
 

MetalChris

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canadian wrote:
Even if his story is true (And that strains credulity at this point), why was he going to taze an unarmed, immobilized man in the back?
Good point...he'd still be in trouble, but not facing manslaughter charges.

This guy is the definition of a tool.
 

Citizen

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PaulBlart wrote:
canadian wrote:
Even if his story is true (And that strains credulity at this point), why was he going to taze an unarmed, immobilized man in the back
HOW DARE YOU
Yeah! How dare you?

We all know how difficult it is to be a police officer. Why they are almost conscripted into a job that requires fisticuffs from time to time. Why would you expect a hardworking,dedicated, selflesspublic servant to risk a life-threatening bruise, or (gasp) a torn seam on his uniform?

My god! Don't you realize how dangerous a man with a knee on his neck can be?

And, no, I don't care if a man with a knee inhis neck is liable to be in pain and threshing about as a result.

These people should be our heroes.They should get the maximum lattitude to use whatever force they think they need tocontrol evena minimallyresistive suspect. Why, they should be allowed to use the taser if the suspect even hesitates to produce ID upon demand. Officer safety is paramount!
 

Thundar

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Citizen wrote:
PaulBlart wrote:
canadian wrote:
Even if his story is true (And that strains credulity at this point), why was he going to taze an unarmed, immobilized man in the back
HOW DARE YOU
Yeah! How dare you?

We all know how difficult it is to be a police officer. Why they are almost conscripted into a job that requires fisticuffs from time to time. Why would you expect a hardworking,dedicated, selflesspublic servant to risk a life-threatening bruise, or (gasp) a torn seam on his uniform?

My god! Don't you realize how dangerous a man with a knee on his neck can be?

And, no, I don't care if a man with a knee inhis neck is liable to be in pain and threshing about as a result.

These people should be our heroes.They should get the maximum lattitude to use whatever force they think they need tocontrol evena minimallyresistive suspect. Why, they should be allowed to use the taser if the suspect even hesitates to produce ID upon demand. Officer safety is paramount!

Citizen,

Its no fun when you out-Blart PaulBlart!
 

Citizen

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Thundar wrote:
Citizen wrote:
PaulBlart wrote:
canadian wrote:
Even if his story is true (And that strains credulity at this point), why was he going to taze an unarmed, immobilized man in the back
HOW DARE YOU
Yeah! How dare you?

We all know how difficult it is to be a police officer. Why they are almost conscripted into a job that requires fisticuffs from time to time. Why would you expect a hardworking,dedicated, selflesspublic servant to risk a life-threatening bruise, or (gasp) a torn seam on his uniform?

My god! Don't you realize how dangerous a man with a knee on his neck can be?

And, no, I don't care if a man with a knee inhis neck is liable to be in pain and threshing about as a result.

These people should be our heroes.They should get the maximum lattitude to use whatever force they think they need tocontrol evena minimallyresistive suspect. Why, they should be allowed to use the taser if the suspect even hesitates to produce ID upon demand. Officer safety is paramount!

Citizen,

Its no fun when you out-Blart PaulBlart!

(chuckle) Thank you.

I wasn't trying to out-Blart him, though. I was just trying my hand at satirizing an indignant statist in response to Canadian's post.

Sorry if I trod on any toes.
 

Citizen

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Doug Huffman wrote:
Citizen wrote the Blart 'bot that is currently at revision 'paul'.

The name was originally ''Bot l' arte' but that was too gay and the acronym was adopted. Look next for Rev. QuislingBlart.

I'm sure there is something humorous in there, but for the life of me, I can't make it out.

Doug, would you connect the dots for me.
 

Doug Huffman

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A lens through which to view my humor warped into sensibility?

User=22582 is an example of an internet 'robot' with some artificial intelligence, enough intelligence that Citizen, as Dr. Jekyll, can enjoy the antics of his Mr. Hyde 'bot.

The 'bot was originally called 'Bot l' Arte, in my lame attempt at French that I do not speak, straining for legitimacy as a 'net satirist. But Bot l' Arte is too archly cute and so was shortened to the name that we now know, Blart. Blart is much less euphonious and more Germanic and gracelessly American.

Blart has, of course, gone through revisions from his birthing in a Commodore 64, when Citizen called it-him AdamBlart has he breathed virtual life into the circuits. Snatching a key from the Commodore 64's control panel in frustrated rage, Citizen cloned AdamBlart into BessieBlart.

BessieBlart sucked the chrome off all of the neighborhood trailer hitch-balls, so that wouldn't do. Then there was ChaplinBlart and on and on.

PaulBlart was apostle to all the predeeding generations of Citizen's Blart and the first that we knew of him. And PaulBlart is the first to really hint at the evil that will mature in the next generation, the Rev. QuislingBlart ('Rev.' as double entendre for 'reverend', as Lowery, and revision).

To be continued after a stiff drink of absinthe and Sambucca. Heck, it ain't easy or everyone would do it.
 

Citizen

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Doug Huffman wrote:
SNIP [explanation post]
:D

Thanks.

I'm afraid I cannot take credit for PaulBlart. Except perhaps to the extent that I've encouraged him.

Actually, I'm kinda envious that I didn't think of the cop-satire angle myself. Boy, oh boy, oh boy, would thatbe solid gold opportunity. But, as its PaulBlart's idea, I have to leave it to him.
 

kurtmax_0

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I actually doubt he even had a tazer. If you look at the videos that weren't 'confiscated' by the cops (which is illegal btw.. a court order is needed after-the-fact to get a video copy.. not on the scene) the off-side shots of the officer show no tazer whatsoever.
 
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