Mehserle's letter to the public

San Francisco Chronicle / sfgate.com ^ | Friday, July 9, 2010 | Chronicle Staff Report

[thecodont]

(07-09) 13:56 PDT OAKLAND -- The attorney for Johannes Mehserle, the former BART police officer convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Oscar Grant, released a handwritten letter today that Mehserle composed Sunday - four days before a Los Angeles jury came back with its verdict in the case.

The full text of the letter released by defense attorney Michael Rains follows:

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/09/BAQB1EC3T3.DTL&tsp=1#ixzz0tDspBOYL

[Admin Moderator]

No personal attacks, please. Thanks.

[Filo]

I see you're still trying to convince everyone that the cop intentionally murdered this guy in front of his fellow officers and a dozen witnesses in broad daylight.

A brilliant straw-man, that. Too feeble to disprove what I'm saying you make up something else and argue against that.

How proud you must be.

[Filo]

Murder is an act of forethought, period.

Are you illiterate or just unwilling to read the definition for murder 2?

[Vendome]

Well Sargent Joe:
Just the facts will not helping out a boot licking, Nation of Islam Worshipping, Cop Hater.

His “feelings” don’t matter and he can’t read either. Erh, well, I take that back.

He can read, his comprehension skills ain’t no better than the dumbest simian.

But what do I know? I have a problem with ugly people and consciosly dumb idiots have a magical power about them, that makes it easy to set me off.

Friggin’, Dribblin’, Rainman....

[dragnet2]

I see you're still trying to convince everyone that the cop intentionally murdered this guy in front of his fellow officers and a dozen witnesses in broad daylight.

A brilliant straw-man, that.

No, it's not brilliant. It's just the facts maam, and a clear, a simple way of bringing home the fact that the cop obviously did not intentionally murder this guy.

In fact, you know this too!

[Enterprise]

"To suggest that he addressed the taser twice (once to draw it, once to put it away) and then somehow forgot where it was moments later is far less believable."

A jury saw the same tape you did. The jury also heard many hours of testimony. The jury concluded that he did not shoot the suspect in a manner justifying a Murder 1, or Murder 2, verdict. The verdict of involuntary manslaughter corroborates the officer's contention that he did not intend to shoot the suspect, and to the jury, that WAS believable. Your terminologies of murder and execution run counter to what was decided by the jury. Your protestations to the contrary are not going to change the minds of others who agree that the jury got it right.

[Filo]

Nope. What I am saying is there was no intent to murder - as shown by the evidence. Thus, murder 1, murder 2, just don’t work.

Murder 2 doesn't require intent to kill.

As I posted in another thread: If a guy chugs a fifth of vodka and hops in his pick-em-up and drives down the road at 120 does he mean to kill that family out for a picnic? Is he innocent because it was an “accident?”

Nope. He drew the weapon because he was in the position to do so. The other officer was not.

The officers cuffing Grant were not, the others on the platform were. Either way, the taser wasn't necessary in the first place, which is the point. Grant was under control and tasing him under the circumstances would have simply been vindictive. As it turns out, shooting him was more so.

I called this when it happened. I took one look at the video tape and I knew it. I was right all along.

You did better than I did. I figured he'd get off Scott free since cops get away with murder all the time.

As it turns out this is the first time a CA cop has been convicted of a crime for an on-duty shoot in 30 years or something like that.

[Vendome]

Are you a Unicorn or a troll.

12 people who listened to the trial came to a different conclusion than you.

Life’s tough and even tougher for those who cannot accept reality for what it is.

Deal with it and the hand dealt. Hell, drink a few shots to the dead guy tonight and cry out for justice, if it makes you feel better.

But, you can’t say justice isn’t being served, it is.

I worked in the Santa Cruz, Monterey County and Salinas jails.

They are not places you want to be. Especially, if you were a cop.

The various factions in that population would love to get 5 seconds on you and you will live more miserably than any other prisoner. You probably not even be whole man when they are done with you and finish your days on a drinking binge that just never ends until your life does.

[Ophiucus]

And I've watched several versions several times and still haven't seen Grant resisting

You are kidding, right?

[Filo]

No, it's not brilliant. It's just the facts maam, and a clear, a simple way of bringing home the fact that the cop obviously did not intentionally murder this guy.

In fact, you know this too!

Indeed I do, which is why I haven't said he is guilty of Murder 1 beyond the whole weapon swapping bit.

Regardless, murder 2 doesn't need intent to kill and he's clearly guilty of it.

But you keep lying about what I say if it makes you feel better.

If you can't be right, right then at least you can be right against something made up, eh?

[kanawa]

He is not a murderer in the sense that he had forethought in his actions of ill intent.
He accidentally killed a man and for that he was convicted of “Involuntary Manslaughter”.

Case closed

[qwertypie]

DJ owns Filo on Friday.

[Filo]

You are kidding, right?

Not at all. I've seen Grant being yanked around a bit by the two cops sitting on him, but nothing that resembles resisting arrest. He was lying on his stomach, pinned under two cops with the cuffs on one arm and the other being brought around to match.

Then BANG!

[Filo]

Are you a Unicorn or a troll.

Tripod. :)

12 people who listened to the trial came to a different conclusion than you.

And OJ was innocent.

Deal with it and the hand dealt. Hell, drink a few shots to the dead guy tonight and cry out for justice, if it makes you feel better.

I don't drink and I am crying out.

But, you can’t say justice isn’t being served, it is.

No it ain't.

I worked in the Santa Cruz, Monterey County and Salinas jails.

They are not places you want to be. Especially, if you were a cop.

The various factions in that population would love to get 5 seconds on you and you will live more miserably than any other prisoner. You probably not even be whole man when they are done with you and finish your days on a drinking binge that just never ends until your life does.

Well then there is hope yet.

[dragnet2]

As it turns out this is the first time a CA cop has been convicted of a crime for an on-duty shoot in 30 years or something like that.

Where ya getting this filo? San Fran free press?

[roses of sharon]

Even the victims friend testified that the officer said he was going to tase him.

[dragnet2]

Only someone that really truly hates cops would think this cop *intentionally* murdered this guy in front of a dozen people and his fellow officers, in broad daylight.