Johannes Mehserle

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.

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.

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.

A former transit officer on trial in the fatal shooting of a passenger at an Oakland BART station received six hours of training on the use of a Taser, the state minimum, a defense witness testified Wednesday. The official also testified that then-Officer Johannes Mehserle was warned of the dangers of confusing his handgun with his Taser — which is what Mehserle's lawyers insist happened in the New Year's Day 2009 shooting at the Fruitvale transit platform. Officer Stewart Lehman, who conducted Taser training for the Bay Area Rapid Transit police, told jurors that Mehserle received a couple of hours of hands-on experience but was able to discharge a Taser only on a limited basis.

Prosecutors rested Monday in the murder case against a former transit police officer who fatally shot an unarmed subway passenger in Oakland, capping seven days of testimony that appeared at times to help the defense as well as the prosecution. Alameda County Deputy Dist. Atty. David R. Stein wrapped up his portion of the trial a few hours after showing a downtown Los Angeles jury a synchronized version of six videos that captured the events surrounding the killing of Oscar J. Grant III. The footage — most of which was taken by BART train passengers — shows Johannes Mehserle firing a single gunshot into Grant's back as the grocery store butcher lay on a station platform.

A former transit police officer said he planned to fire his electric Taser weapon moments before he drew a handgun and fatally shot an unarmed passenger he was trying to handcuff on an Oakland train station platform, another former officer testified Friday. Anthony Pirone said his former BART police colleague, Johannes Mehserle, told him that the victim had his hands in his waistband and that Pirone should stand back. Mehserle fired a single round into the back of Oscar J. Grant III, who lay face-down on the station platform.

A former transit police officer deliberately shot and killed an unarmed passenger on an Oakland subway platform while helping another officer who was mistreating a group of men suspected of fighting on a train, a prosecutor told jurors Thursday. Johannes Mehserle, 28, is charged with murder in the New Year's Day 2009 shooting of Oscar J. Grant III, whose killing sparked outrage and violence in Oakland. The trial was moved to a downtown Los Angeles courtroom amid concern about the extensive media coverage of the killing in the Bay Area.

Several witnesses to the fatal train station shooting of an unarmed man in Oakland testified Tuesday that the officer accused of murder looked surprised and shocked after he pulled the trigger. College student Tommy Cross Jr., who digitally recorded the New Year's Day killing, said former Bay Area Rapid Transit Officer Johannes Mehserle "looked up and said 'Oh, my God! Oh, my God!' " after the shot rang out.

A woman who was videotaping when a San Francisco Bay Area transit officer killed an unarmed man testified Monday that the officer had not been acting overly aggressive toward the victim leading up to the shooting and that he appeared "dumbfounded" afterward. Karina Vargas, who was one of several people at the scene who digitally recorded the New Year's Day incident, told the judge at the preliminary hearing for Johannes Mehserle that she believed other officers were behaving more aggressively at the time.