BART Gives Shooting Probe Results To D.A.

[mrtonguetwista]

OAKLAND (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ―
Officials with the Bay Area Rapid Transit agency announced Monday that they have finished their internal investigation into a deadly New Year's Day shooting of an unarmed man by a BART officer.

It will now be up to the Alameda County District Attorney's Office to decide on whether or not to press charges against Officer Johannes Mehserle.

The announcement by BART General Manager Dorothy Dugger and BART Police Chief Gary Gee occured just a half-hour before BART's board of directors began meeting in a special session to consider setting up a special oversight committee to monitor the transit agency's police department.

In addition, a U.S. Justice Department memo obtained Monday said the DOJ was sending mediators to Oakland to help resolve tensions arising from the shooting case involving a black victim and white officer.

The officials are from the department's Community Relations Service, which was created by the 1964 Civil Rights Act to help resolve and prevent racial and ethnic conflict and violence.

The memo, sent to U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer and U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee , said the mediators would meet with local law enforcement and black community leaders to discuss "community racial tension." They would also conduct an assessment and provide any necessary follow-up.

Monday's developments come after a public meeting Sunday where some angry Oakland residents again demanded answers over BART's response to the fatal shooting of Oscar Grant III at Oakland's Fruitvale BART station.

Most who spoke railed against what they called a slow response and demanded to know if Mehserle would be arrested for Grant's death.

Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff has said he will decide within two weeks whether to bring criminal charges.

 

[BETO916]

dude resigned, so i thought that negated any internal investigation on BARTs part?

hopefully I'm wrong

 

[Foul Mouth]

it was probally interviews with the other officers on the scene. dude re-signed right before they were gonna start the investigation (per his lawyer) so he aint got to talk to no body..........inside at least.......

 

[mrtonguetwista]

it was probally interviews with the other officers on the scene. dude re-signed right before they were gonna start the investigation (per his lawyer) so he aint got to talk to no body..........inside at least.......

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle did meet with investigators probing the New Year’s Day fatal shooting of a Hayward man but chose to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights against self incrimination, officials said Monday.

BART general manager Dorothy Dugger and transit police chief Gary Gee told an afternoon news conference that Mehserle was questioned within three hours of the fatal shooting of Oscar Grant III, but quickly asked for an attorney, refusing to cooperate.

The transit agency has been under fire for its handling of the case and among the most emotional complaints was that Mehserle had yet to be questioned. Monday’s announcement was the first public acknowledgement that Mehserle – who has resigned from the BART police force – has been questioned.

The officials also confirmed that Mehserle was wearing a taser at the time, but that it was “in the cross position” on his body. To reach it, the former officer would have had to reach across his body. Videos of the shooting clearly show Mehserle reaching for the holster on his right hand side.

Two separate criminal investigations have been launched to examine the shooting. Additionally, state Attorney General Jerry Brown announced over the weekend that he was assigning an attorney from his office to monitor the investigations.

Brown made the announcement after meeting Saturday with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) officials and other black leaders in his Oakland office. Brown says he understands the black community is frustrated with the pace of the criminal investigation but he is hesitant to intervene in the inquiry.

"There's an ancient saying that justice must not only be done but must also appear to be done," said Brown.

Brown said he has met with Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff, who will decide whether to file criminal charges against Mehserle for shooting and killing Grant.

"I have confidence in him," Brown said, and has already been in close contact with him.

The attorney general said he understands Orloff must take time to review the case carefully because "defendants have rights," but at the same time "justice can't grind so slowly that it appears that justice isn't being served."

Orloff said Friday that it will take him another two weeks to complete his investigation, but Brown said, "I want to understand why it will take long - it might be quicker."

Referring to a violent protest that rocked downtown Oakland on Wednesday night, Alice Huffman, the president of the California branch of the NAACP, said she sought the meeting with Brown because "the situation in Oakland is very volatile and very pressing."

Huffman said videos that indicate Grant was not armed, was lying on his stomach and was shot in the back by Mehserle "compel you into action."

The incident occurred shortly after 2 a.m. on Jan. 1 when Mehserle and other officers stopped a train at the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland after receiving reports that two groups of men were fighting on the train.

Grant was detained and forced to lie chest down on the ground, but was killed when Mehserle fired a shot into his back.

 

[Foul Mouth]

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle did meet with investigators probing the New Year’s Day fatal shooting of a Hayward man but chose to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights against self incrimination, officials said Monday.

thats what i meant. since he aint with the force he could plead the 5th.......

 

[coondogg26]

if hes not charged with murder then someone needs to use the power of the internet to find where this fool stays and then take the law into their own hands just like he did. An eye for an eye

 

[BETO916]

fuck pleadin the 5th

his bitch ass is on TAPE

 

[BASEDVATO]

If this was any other homicide you know the man would be in jail waiting for a court date... but police don't need to fallow rules, and they never snitch on themselves - its fucked up

 

[Arson]

I aint trippin on his 5th amendent rights, but any normal folk would be in Rita yellows while it all got sorted out, stressing like a mother fucker.

 

[Foul Mouth]

fuck pleadin the 5th

his bitch ass is on TAPE

but the tape only shows the gun dischargin,it dont have whats really goin on........i honestly dont think the cop "murderd" him.he "killed" him.he'll probally get man slaughter...........

 

[DubbC415]

^^^oh so many ways to play with a man's life (RIP)




Only a cop holding a gun would get manslaughter...not gonna happen anyway cuz nothings going to happen.

 

[RevoL]

dude resigned, so i thought that negated any internal investigation on BARTs part?

hopefully I'm wrong

BART still has to do their own investigation, they just have to do it without a statement from Mehserle. They still interview all the other cops involved, go over all the evidence, and decide if there's a case to bring to the DA. from what i understand they finished the investigation today and they basically said they came up with nothing, and have no recommendations on what to do to go forward. so they're leaving it up to the DA to make a case on what to charge him with.

 

[RevoL]

if orloff knows whats good for him he better get mesherle for at the very least manslaughter or the town will be set off. last week wasn't shit compared to what would go down...anything less than 2nd degree people are gon ride.

whatever happens to that dood he's fucked regardless. if he doesn't do time someone gon catch em

 

[TheWestBaySav]

and to think that this bitch ass cop could've avoided alot of this negativity against him..

if he was smart, he would have held a news conference the next day, with his family and lawyer, and would've been TEARFULLY apologizing and pleading that it was accidental (whether it was or not) and that he didnt mean to shoot the young man..

BUT NO, piggie decides to keep quiet and not do SHIT about the situation..resigns, wont give a statement, no apology, NOTHING..and thats why he deserves to get whatever it is he's got coming, because his silence is indicative of someone whos' not only guilty of what he did, but has NO REMORSE about it at all..

throw away the key after the cell door clicks..

 

[DAT NIGGA TAZZ]

THERES NO GOOD WAY TO EXPLAIN THAT... DUDE IS FUCKED

 

[The Visualizer]

If this cop doesn't get charged for murder shits gonna erupt.

I'm getting sick of hearing people come to the cops defense about what happened before and if there was a motive. FUCK THAT

 

[DAT NIGGA TAZZ]

^EXACTLY... PLUS IT DOSENT MATTER WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE... THE POINT IS: THE COPS 100% CONTROL OF THE SITUATION WHEN THE SHOOTING HAPPENED.


AND THERE WAS NO REASON WHATSOEVER FOR THE COP TO SHOOT

 

[TRAJIK1]

^^word. fuck that coward and anyone trying to stick up for him

 

[mrtonguetwista]

Isn't there a protest scheduled for Wednesday night?

 

[Mr. Nice Guy]

If this cop doesn't get charged for murder shits gonna erupt.

I hope so.