Judge won’t lower bail for ex-transit officer accused of murder at San Francisco-area station

Bail will stand in Oakland transit murder case

LOS ANGELES — A former San Francisco Bay Area transit police officer charged with murdering an unarmed man at an Oakland train station lost his bid Friday for reduced bail.

Johannes Mehserle, 28, who is white, is charged with the murder of 22-year-old Oscar Grant, who was black, on a commuter train platform on New Year’s Day 2009. The videotaped shooting triggered riots in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Defense attorney Michael Rains said his client’s $3 million bail should be reduced because he is not a flight risk and has repeatedly demonstrated he is capable of showing up to court.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry countered that he saw no changes in Mehserle’s circumstances that would merit a bail reduction.

“He’s a sufficient flight risk to leave the bail where it is,” Perry said.

Mehserle, wearing a charcoal gray suit, sat stone-faced throughout the hearing and did not address the judge. Several deputies stood between him and Grant supporters as they filed out of the courtroom.

Mehserle has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer has said Mehserle mistakenly pulled out his handgun instead of his Taser stun gun before the shooting.

The incident was video-recorded by several bystanders, and the footage was shown across the Internet and used as evidence during a preliminary hearing last spring.

Perry also rejected a motion to remove Alameda County prosecutors from the case. Rains had argued that prosecutors and detectives acted inappropriately when they interviewed Mehserle earlier in the case after his lawyer at the time had told them not to speak with him.

The judge said the conduct was unseemly and inappropriate but only violated Mehserle’s constitutional rights in a minor way.

Lawyers are under a gag order and cannot discuss the proceedings, which were moved from Alameda County in Northern California to Los Angeles because of excessive media coverage and racial tension.

Outside the courthouse, about 50 protesters gathered with signs. One read “Grant Justice.”

Several of the demonstrators said they had traveled hundreds of miles to show solidarity with the Grant family and bring attention to other police shootings.

“This is an opportunity to set a historic precedent,” said Rachel Jackson of the Oakland Coalition for Justice. “We want to see aggressive prosecution of this officer.”

Judge Perry said Los Angeles was an appropriate venue for the case because fewer potential jurors had seen the videotape of the shooting.

“A rather poisonous atmosphere existed up in the Oakland area,” he said.

Perry also ordered the sealing of future court filings that include names of witnesses to prevent possible intimidation.

Another hearing was set for March 26. Trial is scheduled for June 7.