|
|
| Re: BART cop gets away with murder (998965) | |||
 |
|||
| Home > SubChat | |||
|
[ Read Responses | Post a New Response | Return to the Index ] |
|
||
|
Re: BART cop gets away with murder |
|
|
Posted by Nilet on Sun Nov 7 04:02:37 2010, in response to Re: BART cop gets away with murder, posted by Brighton Private on Sat Nov 6 12:41:18 2010.  You can blame a lot of people.You can blame the Oakland judge who allowed the case to be relocated to LA. You can blame the jury for deciding that it's not really murder if the victim is black. You can blame the LA judge for throwing out the bulk of the case even after the jury's ruling. And if my vague understanding of the matter is correct, you can blame the prosecutors too. The prosecutors tried to charge this as plain second-degree murder, saying that Mehserle intended to shoot Grant with a firearm. Trying to prove that this happened undid their case; even though a cop knows the difference between a firearm and a taser, a jury who is looking for any reason to go easy on a white cop who killed a black man might be willing to doubt it. What they should have done was concede that Mehserle intended to shoot Grant with a taser. Because Grant was unarmed, lying on the ground, and handcuffed, shooting him with a taser would constitute felony assault and battery, and proving Mehserle's intent would be easy since he confessed to it. Once assault and battery was proven, the fact that Grant died as a result of Mehserle's actions makes it felony murder automatically. |
|
|
|