Johannes Mehserle

A former police officer convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting of an unarmed man on an Oakland train station platform was sentenced Friday to two years in prison, sparking outrage from relatives and supporters of the victim who denounced the punishment as too lenient. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry said evidence in the racially charged case showed that the shooting was an accident caused when Johannes Mehserle mistakenly reached for a firearm instead of an electric Taser weapon he meant to use. As Perry spoke, the victim's mother rushed from the courtroom with other relatives and supporters.

Murder charges against on-duty police officers — such as the one announced by Orange County prosecutors in the Fullerton beating case — are rarely filed, and successful prosecutions in such cases are almost unheard of in California. Legal experts said jurors who are naturally sympathetic toward law enforcement are not easily persuaded that an officer has committed the ultimate crime, even after seeing video of the death. Ira Salzman, who has represented police officers, said defense attorneys in Orange County will have the added benefit of jurors who look favorably toward law enforcement and can make a forceful argument that police had the legal right to use force against a non-complying suspect.

Sobbing as he testified, a former Bay Area transit officer for the first time offered his account of how he shot and killed a 22-year-old passenger, saying he mistakenly pulled out his handgun instead of an electronic stun gun and fired a single shot before realizing his mistake. Johannes Mehserle, 28, testified that he was having trouble handcuffing Oscar Grant III and only intended to use the stun gun to make the man comply with his orders. "I didn't think I had my gun," he testified.

Two and a half years after Oscar Grant III was shot to death by a Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer on an Oakland train station platform, the agency agreed Tuesday to pay the unarmed man's mother $1.3 million to settle her civil case against it and the officers involved. Wanda Johnson, Grant's mother, had sued BART and the officers for $50 million, charging wrongful death and violation of civil rights. Her son, 22, had been traveling home on New Year's Day 2009 after a celebration in San Francisco when a fight broke out in his rail car. The African American supermarket butcher was lying face down on the Fruitvale station platform when he was fatally shot by Officer Johannes Mehserle, 29. The white officer said he thought he had pulled out his Taser, not his .40-caliber pistol.

A former transit police officer who fatally shot an unarmed man at an Oakland train station was convicted of involuntary manslaughter Thursday, capping a racially charged case that raised fears in the Bay Area of possible violence after the verdict. Prosecutors accused the ex-officer of intentionally firing his handgun as he tried to handcuff Oscar J. Grant III on New Year's Day 2009. Johannes Mehserle, 28, tearfully testified that the shooting was a tragic accident caused when he mistakenly grabbed his firearm instead of an electric Taser weapon during a struggle with Grant.

Family members and supporters of the unarmed man killed in 2009 by a Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer called the former officer's scheduled release "a travesty" and said Saturday that they planned to hold a series of protests in Oakland and Los Angeles over the next few days. Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry ruled Friday that Johannes Mehserle, who was sentenced last November to serve two years, should be released Monday because of credits for time served and good behavior.

A former transit police officer on trial for the fatal shooting of a passenger at an Oakland BART station took the witness stand in his own defense Thursday, testifying he had little training on using a Taser but was warned of the dangers of confusing it with his handgun — which is what his lawyers insist happened on New Year's Day 2009. Johannes Mehserle, 28, testified about his background and training but did not get to the moment when he shot Oscar Grant III, 22, as the victim lay face down on the Fruitvale subway station platform before court adjoined for the day. The former officer, who is white, resigned shortly after the shooting.

Describing the trial as an "epic case," a defense lawyer urged a Los Angeles jury Thursday to acquit a former Bay Area transit police officer charged with murder in the New Year's Day 2009 shooting of an unarmed man in Oakland. Attorney Michael L. Rains told jurors that they should put aside any temptation to decide the racially charged case in a way that would seek retribution for the victim or provide a commentary on the "sad legacy" of police abuse of minorities. "A court of law … is not a forum to redress social injustice or racial injustice," Rains said in his closing argument in a packed downtown courtroom.

Dozens in downtown Oakland clashed with police in riot gear late Thursday, throwing rocks and bottles at officers, starting small fires in the street and breaking into area businesses. The demonstrators were angry that a Los Angeles County jury found former Bay Area Rapid Transit Officer Johannes Mehserle guilty of involuntary manslaughter in a racially charged shooting instead of on a more severe second-degree murder charge. The crowd had been largely peaceful in the hours after the verdict was announced.

The Bay Area transit officer charged with murdering an unarmed man was released Friday after posting $3-million bail, authorities said. Johannes Mehserle, 27, was picked up by a bail bondsman at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin about 3:45 p.m., according to Alameda County Sheriff's Sgt. J.D. Nelson. He had been in custody since his Jan. 13 arrest. Mehserle has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder in the New Year's Day shooting on a train platform at Oakland's Fruitvale station. Prosecutors say he shot 22-year-old Oscar Grant in the back while the man lay facedown and restrained on the ground.

Several dozen demonstrators gathered in downtown Los Angeles on Monday to protest the early release of Johannes Mehserle, the former Bay Area Rapid Transit officer convicted in the fatal shooting of an unarmed man at an Oakland train station. Mehserle, 29, left Los Angeles County Jail early Monday after serving 11 months of a two-year sentence for involuntary manslaughter in the death of Oscar Grant III. Grant, 22, an African American grocery store butcher, was lying face-down on the platform at the BART Fruitvale station when the white officer shot him once in the back on New Year's Day 2009.

Family members and supporters of the unarmed man killed in 2009 by a Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer called the former officer's scheduled release "a travesty" and said Saturday that they planned to hold a series of protests in Oakland and Los Angeles over the next few days. Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry ruled Friday that Johannes Mehserle, who was sentenced last November to serve two years, should be released Monday because of credits for time served and good behavior.

A former police officer convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting of an unarmed man on an Oakland train station platform was sentenced Friday to two years in prison, sparking outrage from relatives and supporters of the victim who denounced the punishment as too lenient. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry said evidence in the racially charged case showed that the shooting was an accident caused when Johannes Mehserle mistakenly reached for a firearm instead of an electric Taser weapon he meant to use. As Perry spoke, the victim's mother rushed from the courtroom with other relatives and supporters.

Dozens in downtown Oakland clashed with police in riot gear late Thursday, throwing rocks and bottles at officers, starting small fires in the street and breaking into area businesses. The demonstrators were angry that a Los Angeles County jury found former Bay Area Rapid Transit Officer Johannes Mehserle guilty of involuntary manslaughter in a racially charged shooting instead of on a more severe second-degree murder charge. The crowd had been largely peaceful in the hours after the verdict was announced.

A former transit police officer who fatally shot an unarmed man on an Oakland train station platform was convicted of involuntary manslaughter Thursday, capping a racially charged case that some activists viewed as a test of how the justice system treats officers accused of abuse. Johannes Mehserle, who testified that he mistakenly used his firearm instead of an electric Taser weapon, showed no emotion as he was handcuffed and led out of the downtown Los Angeles courtroom to await transportation to jail.

A racially charged murder case came to a close Friday with a prosecutor asking Los Angeles County jurors to do what no local jury has done for nearly 30 years: convict a cop of murder in an on-duty police shooting. The jury will weigh whether a former transit police officer intentionally fired his weapon at an unarmed man lying face-down on an Oakland train station platform or whether the shooting was a tragic accident. To support their case, prosecutors have repeatedly shown jurors several videos taken by witnesses that show Johannes Mehserle aiming his handgun and firing a single round into the back of Oscar J. Grant III as the officer stood over him. But the footage may help build false expectations of a murder conviction.