Bay Area Braces For Violence As Jurors Get Another Day Off

With a juror calling in sick, jury deliberations were postponed today in the Los Angeles trial of a former Bay Area Rapid Transit officer accused of murdering an unarmed man at a subway station in Oakland.

Meanwhile, another juror in the trial of Johannes Mehserle, 28, was excused due to a pre-planned vacation, according to the Superior Court’s Public Information Office. An alternate juror was expected to be seated Wednesday, and the panel will be instructed to begin its deliberations anew.

Mehserle is charged with second-degree murder for the killing of Oscar Grant, 22, who was shot on New Year’s Day 2009 at Oakland’s Fruitvale BART station platform. He faces up to life in prison if convicted.

Mehserle is white and Grant was black. The shooting was caught on video and sparked angry protests, which is why the trial was moved from Alameda County to Los Angeles.

Alameda County Deputy District Attorney David R. Stein and defense attorney Michael L. Rains completed their closing statements Friday. The jury began deliberating Friday afternoon.

Mehserle testified during the trouble that the shooting was accidental and that he meant to use a stun gun instead of his service handgun.

But Stein told jurors in closing statements that the defendant “lost all control” when he intentionally shot Grant because the victim was resisting arrest.

The shooting is “what happens when a police officer acts out of the desire to punish people,” Stein said. “He let his emotions dictate his actions … The defendant’s desire to mistreat Mr. Grant … resulted in the death of an innocent person.”

In his summation, defense attorney Rains said the case against Mehserle was riddled with reasonable doubt.

“There’s nothing that suggests an intent to kill — nothing,” the attorney said.

Rains said his client “wasn’t trying to kill Mr. Grant … he was trying to tase Mr. Grant.”

Mehserle, who’s free on $3 million bail, testified that he mistakenly grabbed his handgun instead of his Taser while trying to subdue Grant.

Referring to the racial dimension of the closely watched case, Rains urged jurors to resist using their decision to “address social injustice … or render a verdict as some sort of commentary” on the relationship between the police and minorities.

He urged the jury to avoid “retribution — seething, ugly, venomous retribution.”

Earlier this week, Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry rejected a prosecution request that jurors be allowed to consider first-degree murder against Mehserle, saying there wasn’t enough evidence to show the shooting of Grant was premeditated.

Instead, jurors can convict him of second-degree murder, voluntary or involuntary manslaughter, or find Mehserle innocent, the judge said.

If convicted, Mehserle faces anywhere from two years to life in prison, depending on the charge.