BART Officer, Johannes Mehserle, arrested for murder

(Videos and comments on his shooting Oscar Grant can be found at my previous post here)

An article about the arrest can be found here (from Polizeros)

Mehserle was arrested in Nevada, I assume because of the death threats he has been receiving he was moved there.  From what I’ve read, there is little reason to believe he was trying to avoid arrest there.

That the arrest was for murder is no surprise: I believe the most grievous possible charge is usually made at time of arrest, to be reduced during trial.  It would not surprise me at all if Mehserle ended up with a manslaughter conviction.

Based on the definitions found here, I would expect Mehserle to be charged with Involuntary Manslaughter.

“Involuntary manslaughter is the unlawful killing of another human being without intent. The absence of the intent element is the essential difference between voluntary and involuntary manslaughter. Also in most states, involuntary manslaughter does not result from a heat of passion but from an improper use of reasonable care or skill while in the commission of a lawful act, or while in the commission of an unlawful act not amounting to a felony.”

(more specifically, criminal-negligence manslaughter where “death results from a high degree of negligence or recklessness”)

When Johannes Mehserle is given, let’s say, three to five years, I wonder if the outrage that has accompanied the incident will re-erupt?  Certainly based on some of the rhetoric on the internet, some of which can be found in the comments on my previous post linked to at the top, many would be outraged if Mehserle weren’t convicted as a murderer for his ‘execution’ of Oscar Grant.

I especially wonder if, months or years down the road, when this conviction is actually handed down, will those so enflamed by the act in the early days of the year even remember OScar Grant or why they were so upset?  Perhaps calmer heads will prevail and time will bring some much-needed perspective to the crime.

It still seems outrageous farce to me to call Mehserle’s shooting of Grant an ‘execution’, based on the videos made available to the public.  It seems like just another excuse to strengthen a predetermined belief that law enforcement is out to murder and kill ‘us’.

… and the cow goes moo