09
Jul 10And the law won.
Johannes Mehersle, the Oakland cop who shot an unarmed, handcuffed man in the back, avoided a murder charge, and was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. Mehersle’s defense, that he meant to draw his Taser instead of his gun, was questionable at best, and wasn’t good enough for a judge during a preliminary hearing.
Whether or not Mehersle actually intended to shoot Oscar Grant, the trial is a reminder of a few things:
- Juries, especially juries where blacks are excluded, are unduly sympathetic to police.
- Even when not confused with guns, Tasers have caused hundreds of deaths in the last decade. However, police still use them freely, even in confrontations with unarmed suspects.
- This trial only came about because of citizen-recorded video, which will get you arrested in several states (Maryland has been particularly incoherent on the subject).
Update: Adam Serwer has a much more complete take on the trial’s import.
Tagged: 5-0, civil liberty, news, politics