LOS ANGELES - Sentencing for Johannes Mehserle in the involuntary manslaughter conviction in the death of Oscar Grant has been moved to the fall.

L.A. County Superior Court released an advisory this afternoon updating the sentencing from August 6th to November 5th at 8:30 a.m. Mehserle's attorney Michael Rains asked for an extension to prepare for sentencing.

In other news related to the verdict and its aftermath, it's being reported that Oakland police may bring charges against mayoral candidates Jean Quan and Rebecca Kaplan for their role in Thursday's protests after reviewing video footage of their involvement after the verdict was announced.

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The following was broadcast on NPR's All Things Considered

By: Denise Tejada

INTRO:  As the Judge finished giving his instructions to the jury in Los Angeles, as if it was a signal, store owners in downtown Oakland began boarding up their windows. Within hours many storefronts pasted a silkscreen poster of Oscar Grant on their windows... some already boarded up with plywood.

Here in downtown Oakland the question was -- is Oscar Grant’s image all over downtown Oakland --a protection for storeowners...or a sign of support?

Kelly Finnigan is an insurance clerk at a dental office downtown. . While her neighbors boarded up their windows, her office chose to tape up a single Oscar Grant poster.

Finnigan:  If the picture saves us from getting our windows broken, we’ll have it up, but we have it up for support of the family. Personally I think that he rioters aren’t really the Oscar Grant protestors, the real Oscar Grant protestors are the ones that are peaceful. You know what I mean. His family doesn’t want more violence, there’s been enough violence.

There are Oscar Grant posters all over. And many of them came from People’s Choice Silkscreen, just a block from the dental office. Owner Sorell Raino-Tsui, wallpapered his windows with posters, and says he had no idea they would become so popular…

Soreli Tsui: A lot of businesses started coming by. They saw us on the news. They were asking for posters, wanting to put up posters of their own. So that their property wouldn’t get damaged. So that they could show their support. And we probably has a hundred businesses come by over the last few days and ask for posters.

While the jury deliberated in fits and starts over the last week, community leaders worked to changed the rallying cry from

“Demand Justice for Oscar Grant to “Violence is not Justice.

As soon as the involuntary manslaughter verdict was announced in Los Angeles, Office buildings in Oakland emptied and there was an instant traffic jam on roads leaving the City.

AMBIENT: Sounds of protest.

The initial protests in front of City Hall were mostly non violent. But when night fell --as promised --anarchists and others battled police …set fire to dumpsters, broke windows and looted several stores.

Grace Lee, who closed her beauty supply store minutes before the verdict was read, watched the protests from home on her TV. At 10 PM she got a call from the alarm company.

Lee: A bunch of people just ran into the store, just taking the merchandise…(sighs). I’m really disappointed.

AMBIENT: Sounds of breaking glass.

This morning crews were cleaning up the damage, replacing cracked windows or boarding up new ones. Store owners who boarded up say they are glad they did.
They say they’ll keep their plywood and their Oscar Grant posters up until after the Judge’s sentencing on Aug 6th.

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LOS ANGELES-- A question that came out of Friday’s deliberations in the Oscar Grant murder trial has become a focal point for speculation about what is being discussed in the jury room. Filed on July 2nd by Juror #6, the question has been set aside by Judge Robert Perry because it was asked by the last configuration of the jury. Nevertheless, speculation has abounded as the question pertains to section 570 of the jury instructions, which covers the definition of voluntary manslaughter.

The Question:

"Subject to section 570 of the Juror Instructions, we would like clarification as to provication [sic]. Can this provication [sic] come from other sources other than the suspect(s)."

The pertinent part of Section 570 defines voluntary manslaughter as a killing that occurs because “of a sudden quarrel or in the heat of passion”.

The defendant killed someone because of a sudden quarrel or in the heat of passion if:
1. The defendant was provoked;
2. As a result of provocation, the defendant acted rashly and under the influence of intense emotion that obscured his reasoning or judgement;
AND
3. The provocation would have caused a peace officer of average disposition to act rashly and without due deliberation, that is, from passion rather than from judgement.

It has been reported that Judge Perry has sided with the prosecution's argument, and if asked again will state that the defendant's emotions could cloud his judgement meeting the standard for heat of passion.

As of now it is unclear if the “provocation” in question refers to the actions of other passengers on the Fruitvale BART platform or those of Officer Anthony Pirone (whose behavior on the platform that night has been criticized by many). Also uncertain is whether defense attorney Michael Rains’ assertion during closing arguments that his client wasn’t “thinking” but “acting” may backfire in his attempt to get former Officer Mehserle acquitted. 

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 LOS ANGELES-- After days of false starts, illnesses, and doctor's appointments, the jury in the murder trial of former BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle for the shooting death of Oscar Grant is embarking on an entire day of deliberations.

The jury, in session since 9:00 a.m., will continue to deliberate until the end of court business hours today at 4:00 p.m.

While questions have been brought up on social media about the condition of the jury- are they sickly, elderly, unserious?- these are mostly a biproduct of the general public's unfamiliarity with the jury system. The jury empaneled for this case has been described as thoroughly mundane and middle aged. In a vacuum of news it is natural to speculate that something big is going on to cause the delays, but the facts are far more banal.

The one thing that stands out is the letting go of original Juror #4 for a pre-arraigned vacation. This may seem strange, but the explanation lies with the original estimate of how long the trial was going to take. It was thought the actual trial would take only eight days, and that a verdict would be handed down before the July 4th weekend. The original Juror #4 was empaneled with this understanding: that his vacation (bought and paid for) would have no bearing on the trial. Time has proven this assumption to be wrong. One power the court doesn't have is the ability to force a juror to throw away the money they spent on travel; after all, they can't exactly afford to reimburse them for the cost.

Nor can the court keep a juror from a doctor appointment or from getting sick. Jurors are little more than glorified conscriptees, who are given a free lunch and a parking voucher, plucked out of their lives and then charged with figuring out what is just. That the court allows them to keep some part of their own lives from falling apart is a display of mercy on the part of the justice system.

Right now, with tension mounting around a lack of a verdict, the delays might seem wrong-headed and backwards. The next time you're called for jury duty you might just feel differently.

The takeaway for today: the jury (four white females, three white males, three Latino women, one Asian woman, and one male who has declined to state race) is finally getting down to business.

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LOS ANGELES-- Understand this: the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center-- which houses the court room of Judge Robert Perry where the trial of Johannes Mehserle is taking place-- is a concrete cage standing in the heart of Los Angeles’ Civic Center. Facts go in, but they have a hard time getting back out. As the jury in the Oscar Grant murder trial inches towards a verdict there is little official news from the court, and that official news often follows on the heels of the courthouse rumor mill.

Tuesday's surprise twist was when a juror called in sick, preventing deliberations from continuing. Yet the news of this delay did not reach the press through the official channel of the Public Information Office, but through the court house grapevine of LAPD officers and local media players whose connections put them on the inside track. A situation inevitably exacerbated by how thin the resources of the Public Information Office are spread.

Allan Parachini-- the veteran reporter and former ACLU spokesman who has headed the PIO since 2002-- has been downtown at the Justice Center nearly every day of the Mehserle trial acting as the court’s spokesman. Yesterday, however, he was charged with handling the media relations on an even higher profile, though certainly not higher stakes event: the probation hearing of starlet Lindsay Lohan miles away in Beverly Hills.

That the chief point of contact for the media on the Oscar Grant murder trial was dispatched to an entirely different area code to work a different trial underlines just how overloaded the LA Court system is. There are nearly 600 courtrooms in the LA Superior Courts system in 48 different buildings. There are only six members of the PIO team: Mr. Parachini and his five deputies. 

This is the most difficult time of the trial for all who are following the case. With the case in the hands of the jury-- one that seems to have a number of medical issues-- all any of the trial observers can do is wait. For those of us who are waiting quite literally outside the courtroom doors, this involves keenly watching the other watchers while we all wait for the email that will notify us that a verdict has been reached: or that the jury has become deadlocked. A possibility no one wants to consider.

So let this be a reminder: it has been 18 months since that fateful New Year’s Day, a few atypical but not uncommon delays are far from the worst outcome imaginable. 

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 LOS ANGELES-- With closing arguments completed five days ago, there has yet to be a full day of deliberations in the murder trial of former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle for the New Year’s Day 2009 shooting of Oscar Grant. A frustrated family of the deceased and tense residents of Oakland question when they will have closure in a trial that just doesn’t seem to end.

Grant’s uncle, Cepheus “Bobby” Johnson, says that the latest delay in jury deliberations-- Juror #3 had a pre-scheduled medical appointment that was only made public today-- is “disheartening.” This latest delay follows a lost day of deliberations Tuesday when one of the other jurors called in sick. Today, an Asian American woman replaced Juror #4, (described by reporters as an “East Indian looking man”) who had a previously planned vacation but had been empaneled anyway as the trial was expected to have reached a verdict before the July 4th weekend.

While the L.A. Superior Court’s public information office admits that these kind of juror issues are “not typical,” a spokeswoman says they are also well within the normal operating procedures of the court system and “not uncommon.” Online reactions bemoaning the latest delays reflect the broader issues at stake in the trial: the tense relations between the community and the justice system that produced former officer Mehserle.

As of today the jury has only two alternates left.

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LOS ANGELES -- The judge presiding over the Oscar Grant murder trial expressed "great concern" about how inaccurate media coverage of the trial is affecting community sentiment in Oakland, where Grant's shooting took place.

"You have to understand my perspective," says Judge Robert Perry on June 30th in a transcript of court proceedings obtained by Youth Radio, alluding to incorrect reporting on key trial events. Judge Perry:

This morning I dismissed a first degree murder charge. I made it exceedingly clear on the record that a murder charge was still in place in this case, that the defendant is facing a potential sentence of 40 years to life, not 50 years to life as a result of the court's ruling. In other words, it was a chipping off of 10 years of potential sentence. And yet, I'm told that there are several news media outlets in the Bay Area that are reporting that I dismissed all murder charges in this case.

At the time of Grant's shooting, Oakland residents and others expressed outrage through street protests about the incident and how it was handled by city government and law enforcement. Today local businesses are boarding up windows and preparing for possible unrest when Judge Perry announces the trial's verdict.

The inaccuracy of media reports is of great concern to this court, and I will hope that those erroneous reports will not inflame public sentiment incorrectly or cause problems for people. But you know, we are very concerned about keeping order in the court. This is a case of great interest and great emotion. It was a tragic case when it happened, it is a tragedy all the way through and there's no getting around it, and we're trying to do what we can.

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By: Genysys Sanchez

OAKLAND -- Store owners are making preparations for the unknown as they await a verdict in the BART shooting trial. In downtown Oakland, businesses are boarding up their windows just in case there's a repeat of last year's unrest. Protests are widely expected on the day of the verdict, but what kind of protests? Community leaders have launched a campaign promoting peaceful demonstrations, centered around the slogan "Violence Is Not Justice." The question on most people's minds is whether or not these plywood precautions will be necessary.

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LOS ANGELES - Deliberations have been postponed today in the Oscar Grant trial because a juror called in sick. Jurors began deliberating Friday afternoon, in the murder trial for Johannes Mehserle, the former BART cop who shot 22 year-old Grant on New Year's Day 2009. The case is expected to resume tomorrow at 9:00 AM when Judge Perry plans to seat a juror alternate to replace juror 4 who has a pre-scheduled vacation. Deliberations will begin anew tomorrow after that juror is seated.

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Youth Radio's Pendarvis Harshaw talks to Mayor Ron Dellums about renaming Fruitvale BART station in honor of Oscar Grant.

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