Revolution #167, June 7, 2009
Update in Battle for Justice in Oakland
Cop Who Murdered Oscar Grant Will Face Murder Trial
June 4, 2009: Today, the three week long preliminary hearing of Johannes Mehserle, the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) cop who killed Oscar Grant, ended with the Judge’s decision that Mehserle will go on trial for murder. To uphold the charge of murder at this stage, the judge had to rule both that there was enough evidence to show that Mehserle killed Grant, which no one denies, and that it was with “malice”. Legally, “malice” means that the killing was intentional. The legal standard here is that there is sufficient evidence that Mehserle should go to trial for murder -- this is different from the higher standard that would be required to convict Mehserle in a trial, “guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Mehserle’s lawyer’s arguments, and the lying cop witnesses the defense brought could not explain away the evidence in the videotapes that millions have seen, and other evidence and testimony in the case. The defense summarized their case at the end of the hearing: they maintained that the police were in fear for their lives from the people at the station, and that Johannes Mehserle thought he was deploying a taser. And they claim that this is why Mehserle said “oh shit” after the murder.
The judge ruled that it is clear that Johannes Mehserle shot Oscar Grant and that Oscar Grant was unarmed, and that there had been no evidence that showed that this was not an intentional shooting.
After the hearing, family, friends and other protesters held a celebration of the judge’s decision outside the courthouse. They held signs and spoke on bullhorns, as people in passing cars honked their horns and gave the fist out their windows. Some people went to the Fruitvale BART station, the scene of the crime, to hold a speakout.
The judge’s decision to hold a cop over for trial for murdering a young Black man is rare indeed under this system. And it does not at all mean that Mehserle will be convicted. That this has now reached the point where Mehserle is facing trial has happened because of the people’s actions all the way through. The people on the train who saw the police brutality and turned on their cell phones to record the cops’ actions, and who made sure these videos got out to the world; the outcry and protests in the streets of people demanding justice; and the courageous testimony of witnesses against Mehserle in this hearing. This struggle must continue in the months, and the twists and turns, ahead.
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