Former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle to be released from jail soon - San Jose Mercury News
By Paul T. Rosynsky Oakland Tribune
OAKLAND -- A year after facing a lifetime in prison for killing an unarmed BART passenger, former transit police Officer Johannes Mehserle will be released from jail in a couple of weeks.
With credits for time served and the leniency of a Los Angeles County judge, Mehserle will be set free after serving 11 months of a two-year sentence issued after the 29-year-old was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the killing of Hayward resident Oscar Grant III.
Mehserle's release from Los Angeles County Men's Central Jail, most likely in the middle of June, should not come as a surprise because the date was determined when Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Perry declined last year to issue a harsher penalty.
For Grant's family, the release is a bitter reminder of the tragedy that occurred in the early hours of Jan. 1, 2009, and how, in their minds, the criminal justice system failed. "We really don't feel like there has been accountability for his actions," said Cephus Johnson, Grant's uncle and a family spokesman. "We were totally let down by the judicial system."
For Mehserle, being freed from jail offers a chance to begin anew but not in the profession he had chosen when he became a BART police officer more than three years ago. And while Mehserle's release closes a chapter in the highly publicized saga, the story of Grant's death and its implications will continue for years as both a federal civil suit and an appeal of Mehserle's conviction remain active in the courts....
I'll agree two years is far too little for killing a man. Hopefully the idiots (the local Al Sharpton's and Jesse Jackson's) will try and keep the peace.
@mikeat: YOU'RE a cop? Yeah, right. You evidently know NOTHING about the Mehserle trial. "A COP'S WATCH" is a joke.
ReplyDeleteYes, Anon, I'm a cop. Fourteen years since sworn date and almost all has been on patrol.
DeleteTwo, you seem to have an issue with comprehension of the English language. I did not imply guilt or innocence on Officer Mesherle. If he is guilty of manslaughter, I believe the sentence should be more than two years like any other man. We are talking about taking another man's life. If he's innocent, he gets nothing because he hasn't committed a crime.
From what I've seen Mesherle made a tragic mistake, but it still has to be accounted for.
I did express hope the local race baiting poverty pimps didn't use this to have Rodeny King II. Innocent bystanders, as well as cops get injured or killed in that.
Finally if you don't like my blog, you're a joke for reading. Do something more useful with your time like getting out of the basement in your mom's house.