(BART police shooting) Grant took picture of Mehserle, prosecutor says

[alp227]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

(06-09) 18:52 PDT LOS ANGELES --

A historic trial over a police shooting captured on video is set to begin here Thursday morning after a prosecutor revealed a final piece of evidence - a photograph he said the victim snapped of the officer who would shoot him just minutes later.

The picture shows then-BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle, 28, pointing his Taser at 22-year-old Oscar Grant on the platform of Fruitvale Station in Oakland on Jan. 1, 2009, said Alameda County prosecutor David Stein. Grant - like many fellow BART riders that morning - had a cell-phone camera.

What happened next is the focus of the trial, which was moved to downtown Los Angeles to find a jury that had not been inundated by publicity about the case in the Bay Area. First up, in a trial expected to last two to four weeks, are opening statements.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/06/09/BAD21DSRGI.DTL

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The judge also allowed testimony by Grant's girlfriend, who spoke over the phone with Grant. Grant said that he was being "beaten for no reason." Also the judge allowed prosecutors to disclose that Mehserle's fellow officer Anthony Pirone said a racial epithet to Grant.

[Bonobo]

1. Probably something like:

"I'll teach you not to take my picture, n**er!"

[petronius]

2. If he had his taser out minutes before, that kind of annihilates the

'mistook the gun for the taser' argument, right?

[Wizard777]

5. Yes it does. But even if hadn't. He still has the reasonable professional test.

Is it reasonable for an officer to be unable to distinguish between his taser and gun? No it's not. But with him pulling the taser earlier. He should have been able to feel and notice the difference between the two weapons.

[petronius]

8. You're right, certainly - I didn't mean to suggest that the 'mistake' argument

had any validity to begin with...

[HardWorkingDem]

3. Going to make an unpopular prediction.....

If Mehserle is charged with some form of murder (rather than manslaughter) he will be convicted, but if he is convicted, the conviction will later be overturned for a variety of reasons (allowing the mention of the racial slur and hearsay conversation).

Which leads me to ask - if he is acquitted of murder, would it not have been more wise to charge him with an offense better legally defined.

[Truth2Tell]

4. So are you suggesting poor decision, or deliberately poor decision? nt

[Tempest]

6. It should also be noted

That there are no blacks on the jury.

[msanthrope]

7. Seven white, four Hispanic, and 1 East Indian. Don't know about the

alternates.

[alp227]

9. Alternates: three Asians, two whites, and one Hispanic

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BART_Police_shooting_of_Oscar_Grant#Trial