Oscar Grant Murder Case

Oscar Grant III was a 22 year-old African American man who was fatally shot in the morning hours of New Years Day, 2009 by BART Police officer Johannes Mehserie in Oakland, California. Responding to reports of a fight on a crowded Bay Area Rapid Transit train returning from San Francisco, BART Police officers detained Grant and several other passengers on the platform at the Fruitvale BART Station. Officer Johannes Mehserle and another officer forced the unarmed, Oscar Grant to lie face down. Mehserle drew his pistol and shot Grant in the back. Several witnesses claim Mehserle said “Oh my God!” several times after the shooting. The .40 caliber bullet from Mehserle’s semi-automatic handgun entered Grant’s back exited through his front side and ricocheted off the concrete platform,

Both peaceful and violent protests of police actions took place in the following days. On January 30, 2010, Alameda County prosecutors charged Mehserle with murder. The officer resigned his position and pleaded not guilty. The trial began on June 10, 2010. An entire month later, on July 8, 2010, Johannes Mehserie was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and not guilty of second-degree murder or voluntary manslaughter. Through initial protests on July 8th against the jury verdict were peacefully organized, after dark there were incidents of looting, arson, destruction of property, and small riots. Nearly 80 people were eventually arrested. On July 9, 2010, the US Justice department opened a civil rights investigation against Mehserle. The federal government can prosecute independently for the same act under the separate sovereigns exception to double jeopardy. No charges have been filed to date. On November 5, 2010, Mehserle was sentenced to two years, minus the time he served. He served time in Los Angeles County Jail protective custody, held in a private cell for his