Murder Charge for Officer Arrested in Oakland BART Killing

(9 am. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

(Originally posted (link), on DailyKos. It was an “in-process” story, so it has lots of updates. Please excuse the disjointedness, thanks!)

I’ve never put “breaking” in a title yet – but I just heard this on a preview to the news.

KTVU Channel 2 in Oakland is reporting that the BART (Bay Area Rapid Tranisit) officer who shot and killed a young man has been arrested.

I will fill in the details as I get them.

LATEST UPDATE: CHARGE COULD BE MURDER.

KGO-AM Radio 1:30am PST(my paraphrase):


… Officer (Merschle) taken into custody last night…on a no-bail warrant for a single murder charge

Report did not say which degree. We’ll have to wait for the Wednesday press conferences from Nevada and Alameda County.

[UPDATE] SF Chronicle is also reporting that the charge is murder:


BART officer arrested on murder warrant …

The BART police officer who fatally shot an unarmed man on an Oakland train platform and then refused to explain his actions to investigators was arrested Tuesday in Nevada on suspicion of murder, authorities said …

Mehserle’s attorney, Christopher W. Miller of Sacramento, confirmed early today that his client was arrested on suspicion of murder.

This morning I saw a small article that the BART Police had concluded its investigation.

Tonight on KTVU, it was reported that the officer who killed the man in custody has been arrested.

UPDATE:

per KTVU: a warrant was issued for his arrest.  One source says he was “some distance” away when he was arrested.  KTVU reports SFGATE says the officer was in Nevada when arrested and will be returned and booked into Santa Rita jail.

Update [2009-1-14 2:35:23 by BentLiberal]:

From the San Francisco Chronicle online (SFGATE):

BART officer arrested in connection with New Year’s Day shooting

(01-13) 21:36 PST Oakland — Johannes Mehserle, the former BART police officer who shot and killed an unarmed man on an Oakland train platform on New Year’s Day, was arrested in Nevada today …

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/…

Mehserle, 27, was taken into custody in Douglas County, Nevada …

Mehserle was arrested in connection with an investigation by the Oakland Police Department into the shooting of Oscar Grant, 22. An Alameda County judge signed an arrest warrant, and Mehserle surrendered without incident, authorities said.

Douglas County sheriff’s officials refused to disclose what crime Mehserle was accused of committing in the arrest warrant. Deputy Velez said Sheriff Ron P. Pierini would make a statement on Wednesday.

Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff was also expected to announce details of the arrest Wednesday.

On Monday, BART police turned over the results of their preliminary investigation to Orloff’s office. The separate investigation by Oakland police was launched last week. The state Attorney General is also monitoring the case.

Update [2009-1-14 2:35:23 by BentLiberal]:

Here’s the link to the KTVU story on their website:

BART Officer Arrested In Connection With Fatal Shooting

The Chronicle story (above) does a better job on stating the facts of the arrest. So I’ll instead include some nuggets from the KTVU website story:


Speculation over what the Alameda County District Attorney would do in the case has been rampant …

Former prosecutors, law school professors and other legal analysts said the case boils down to Mehserle’s reason for pulling the trigger and his state of mind. … that task is complicated by Mehserle’s resignation … and his refusal to speak with investigators.

Politically powerful black ministers have trekked to Orloff’s office to urge him to prosecute the case, which also is being investigated by the Oakland Police Department.

State Attorney General Jerry Brown has assigned a prosecutor to monitor the case, and the U.S. Department of Justice has dispatched mediators to help avert violent protests such as one in Oakland last week.

Few legal analysts believe Mehserle will face first-degree murder charges because prosecutors would have to convince a jury that the former officer intended to kill Grant.

UPDATE: Thanks to everyone in the comments posting links. I will update some of the links above with some of the pertinent info. There will be a press conference Wednesday where we should learn more info.

I’ve written this diary in a “just the facts” manner (as far as I can see). We can use the comments to voice our opinions.

Update [2009-1-14 2:35:23 by BentLiberal]: Over the air on KTVU (from their words to my fingers – so roughly):

He was taken in custody in Douglas County, Nevada by sheriffs there and is being held in Lake Tahoe currently.

[UPDATE]

KGO-TV Website:

The Oakland Mayor’s Office confirmed … The arrest took place around 7 p.m. Tuesday evening in Douglas County, Nevada. That’s just over the border in Zephyr Cove, near Lake Tahoe. That is where Mehserle has presumed to have been staying after he resigned from BART.

He quit last Wednesday rather than answer questions as to why he shot Grant, who was unarmed, lying facedown at the Fruitvale BART station in the early hours of New Year’s Day.

“I believe it was for the murder. I believe he was taken into custody sometime around 7 p.m. this evening. He’ll be arraigned in the morning, and he’ll have the option to fight extradition back to California or to waive it,” said Sgt. Dan Coverley, from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department.

BART Spokesperson Linton Johnson told ABC7 that BART officials were not told of the impending arrest and they were taken by surprise on Tuesday evening.

On Monday, BART turned its investigation over to the D.A. The arrest comes on the eve of a large protest scheduled to take place at Oakland City Hall. City officials have planned for what they fear would be another round of riots.

[UPDATE]

KGO-AM Radio (my paraphrase):


Officer (Merschle) taken into custody last night…on a no-bail warrant for a single murder charge

[UPDATE] SF Chronicle is also reporting that the charge is murder:


BART officer arrested on murder warrant …

The BART police officer who fatally shot an unarmed man on an Oakland train platform and then refused to explain his actions to investigators was arrested Tuesday in Nevada on suspicion of murder, authorities said …

Mehserle’s attorney, Christopher W. Miller of Sacramento, confirmed early today that his client was arrested on suspicion of murder.

4 comments

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  1. So it’s very timely that this arrest of the officer on a no-bail warrant for a single count of murder is timely.

    The officer was arrested in Nevada, near Lake Tahoe.

    Some people speculated he was fleeing, but then I read that he was actually staying there, laying low, waiting to see what would happen.

  2. TWO FULL WEEKS went by before this guy was taken into custody.

    During that time he might have fled the country, not just the state!

    This needs to be fixed. Badly.

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