Oscar Grant.

[asdjrocky]

He was a black man murdered by a white cop. Oscar was down on the ground, with his hands behind his back. He was no threat at all to the officer, in fact, it was all caught on film.

The cop was giving the lightest conviction possible by an all white jury in a town 500 miles away.

The killer was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, and will maybe do at the most 4 years in prison.

When protesters in Oakland wanted to protest at City Hall, Oakland closed City Hall.

Now, close your eyes and just imagine for a moment if Oscar was white.

His name was Oscar Grant.

[KamaAina]

1. Minor quibbles

the jury contained Latinos and Asians, though, to be sure, no African Americans. (Interestingly, though, the alternate pool was mostly white, thus the jury became whiter as the trial wore on. Also, the defense initially tried to get a change of venue to some all-white county up in the Sierras.)

Also, with the gun enhancement, Mehserle could theoretically get up to 14 years. (Of course, theoretically, the Baltimore Orioles could also come back to win the AL East and then the World Series.)

Actually, I'm amazed we were able to get any conviction at all. I thought he'd just (metaphorically) blow the smoke off his gun barrle and walk off into the sunset, like so many other killer cops.

[asdjrocky]

3. Yeah, at the most he'll do seven.

Time off for good behavior and all that. They'll probably keep him out of general pop, so good behavior should be a breeze for him.

It's hard to find anything that looks like justice here.

[KamaAina]

4. Blah blah blah first offense blah blah blah ties to the community blah blah upstanding citizen

translation: he's a white guy, and a cop to boot. "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others."

[asdjrocky]

5. You're good.

I like the truth you think.

[tularetom]

2. There is a possibility that he could do as much as ten additional years

I saw somewhere that there is a "special circumstances" clause somewhere in the laws regarding manslaughter verdicts that if a gun is used in the act, as much as ten years (at the judge's discretion I believe) may be added to the sentence.

However if this guy is housed in, or anywhere near, the general population, there is a fair chance that he won't survive his term, whatever it is.