Michael Rains
Now that the gag-order in the case has been lifted, the attorney for former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle is speaking out. KGO-TV asked Michael Rains on Sunday his reaction to Oscar Grant’s family denouncing Mehserle’s letter of apology. Grant’s uncle called Mehserle’s letter“garbage” and said that any letter of apology should have been directed directly to them and should have been sent much earlier.
Rains told KGO-TV on Sunday, “You know what, I don’t think that when the family remains that hostile and that nasty and mean-spirited that Mr. Mehserle should be out there offering olive branches because they will not be received.”
Rains is seeking a delay of sentencing so he will have enough time to prepare his post-trial motions.
He says the jury was “confused” and in a hurry to reach a verdict and “get out of the courthouse.”
Rains said the involuntary manslaughter charge and the gun enhancement charge which the jury convicted Mehserle on, were mutually exclusive because involuntary means without the intention to fire a gun. Rains will ask the judge at sentencing to set aside the conviction and order a new trial.
Grant’s family is seeking a federal prosecution based on civil rights violations. Rains called that “highly unlikely or altogether impossible.”
original source: http://www.examiner.com/x-27745-SF-Headlines-Examiner~y2010m7d12-BART-trial-Mehserle-attorney-calls-Oscar-Grant-family-mean-spirited-requests-sentencing-delay
Media coverage of the Oakland riots after BART shooting trial verdict slammed (video, photos)
The San Francisco Bay Area media is taking heat for its coverage of the Oakland riots from the political right, left and center.
On the right, national radio talk show host Michael Savage is slamming the media for “stirring people up” following the verdict in the Oscar Grant case.
Savage told listeners on his show, which originates from the San Francisco Bay Area, that the “vermin in the media” are the “true terrorists” who fanned the flames of violence in the wake of the verdict that found Mehserle guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
Savage, who is not known for his subtlety, said those who caused trouble in Oakland were “white communists and anarchists” and “white scum.”
Savage said the real hero in Oakland during the rioting was Oscar Grant’s grandfather and namesake. Savage played a speech by the senior Grant urging nonviolence.
Savage noted that Oscar Grant senior wore a ball cap with the words “Airborne US Marine Corps.”
Said Savage, “I don’t believe he found it in the ashcan.”
Savage’s opinion about the media was echoed by someone who is Savage’s political polar opposite in the media.
Charles Karel Bouley, who goes by Karel, a talk show host on the left-leaning Green 960, told listeners that the media effectively rallied the rioters.
“The media so wanted a riot yesterday in Oakland, they created one,” said Karel .
Karel also read aloud from Mehserle’s letter of apology and mocked the Mehserle for implying that he was a victim too.
Karel said that Mehserle should have been convicted of voluntary manslaughter.
The media also got slammed from a voice in the middle. KGO radio talk show host Ronn Owens told listens on his 9-noon show, “We the media were counting on these riots, I am surprised we didn’t just go out and take out ads, that said ‘listen to us, we will have the best riots coverage.”
Owens added, “It’s almost like the media was disappointed it wasn’t a bigger riot.”
What did you think? Click on the comments button above to leave your comments.
Previous Updates:
Letter of apology from Johannes Mehserle released Friday in wake of Oakland riots (photos, video)
Johannes Mehserle issued a hand-written letter of apology dated Sunday, July 4, 2010, four days before the jury found him guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Here is the text of the letter. A PDF of the letter was posted on the SFGATE.com site. Click here to read it. The hand-written letter is addressed to Michael Rains, Mehserle’s attorney.
The attorney for the Grant family, John Burris, commented on the letter during a brief interview on the Gil Gross show on KGO radio at 2:45 p.m.
Although Burris called it a “good statement,” he said Mehserle should have apologized on the right of the shooting. Burris said he had not been able to talk to the Grant family since the letter was released early Friday afternoon.
“It doesn’t change any facts, Mr. Grant is still dead, he did it,” Burris said. The attorney reiterated that the letter would have been better received it had come earlier.
Here’s the text of Mehserle’s letter:
Mike –
Please try to get this message to the public:
I don’t know what the jury in this case is going to decide, but I hope those who hate me and those who understand that I never intended to shoot Oscar Grant will listen to this message.
I have and will continue to live everyday of my life knowing that Mr. Grant should not have been shot. I know a daughter has lost a father and a mother has lost a son. It saddens me knowing that my actions cost Mr. Grant his life, no words express how truly sorry I am.
I hoped to talk to Ms. Johnson (Wanda Johnson, Grant’s mother) and Ms. Mesa (Sophina Mesa, Grant’s girlfriend and the mother of his daughter) in the days following this terrible event, but death threats toward my newly-born son, my friends and family resulted in no communication occurring. I hope the day will come when anger will give way to dialogue.
For now, and forever I will live, breathe, sleep, and not sleep with the memory of Mr. Grant screaming “You shot me” and putting my hands on the bullet wound thinking the pressure would help while I kept telling him “You’ll be okay!” I tried to tell myself that maybe this shot would not be so serious, but I recall how sick I felt when Mr. Grant stopped talking, closed his eyes and seemed to change his breathing.
I don’t expect that I can ever convince some individuals how sorry I am for the death of Mr. Grant, but I would not feel right if I didn’t explain my thoughts as I wait for a decision of the jury.
Johannes Mehserle
No comments:
Post a Comment