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SAN FRANCISCO -- When Johannes Mehserle shot and killed Oscar Grant III on the Fruitvale BART platform in 2009 it was a mistake and a tragedy, his attorney said Wednesday, but it wasn't a case of gross negligence that would justify his involuntary manslaughter conviction. Dylan Schaffer, who is representing Mehserle in his appeal to have his 2010 conviction overturned, said he's looked at similar cases and found manslaughter convictions only for incidents involving "extraordinary imprudence" -- a man pointing a loaded gun at someone's head, or handing a pistol muzzle-first to a drunk spouse, or an old gambling den...

A federal judge is allowing protesters to proceed with a class-action lawsuit against Oakland and Alameda County U.S. District Court Judge Thelton Henderson granted class certification Friday for the 150 plaintiffs arrested Nov. 5, 2010, while protesting the sentence given to Johannes Mehserle, the former BART police officer who shot and killed Oscar Grant III. The plaintiffs, represented by the National Lawyers Guild, said Oakland police herded them into a residential block where they were arrested, denied bathroom access for eight hours and later placed into crowded county jail cells. "California law requires most misdemeanor arrestees to be released at...

OAKLAND -- Two men arrested on suspicion of looting following a downtown rally after the verdict in the Oscar Grant slaying were ordered to pay $25,000 each to the owner of a jewelry store that was robbed, city officials announced Wednesday. The city filed a lawsuit in October against Terry Williams, 33, of Oakland, and Gerald Dugas, 20, of Castro Valley. They were at the scene of a July 8 rally to protest the verdict of involuntary manslaughter returned against former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle, who shot and killed Grant on a train platform early of the morning of...

7:45 p.m.: Police arresting people at 7th Avenue and East 17th StreetPolice have announced to the crowd that they are going to begin arresting people. They are telling protesters not to resist and to follow officers' orders.Officers are using wristbands to secure people's hands. People are surrendering and allowing themselves to be cuffed. A few people are on the ground.Police are declaring the area a crime scene."Do not resist arrest," police are saying. "You will not be hurt in any way."Someone has lit a trash can on fire, and an officer is putting the fire out with his boot.At least...

Live Blog: Police indentify about 16 people who caused problems last time and are introducing themselves to them ... 4:55 p.m. Police Chief Batts briefs media, says officers are introducing themselves to 16 people who caused the most trouble after Mehserle verdict In his second briefing to the media, Police Chief Batts said officers from various agencies have been introducing themselves to about 16 people who caused the most trouble in July following the verdict in the Mehserle trial. He said they are saying, "It's a pleasure to see you and we are aware of you." Batts said the music...

OAKLAND -- Office buildings are emptying and protesters are gathering in downtown Oakland in anticipation of demonstrations today over the two-year prison term handed down to former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle for killing Oscar Grant. Grant's family and supporters expressed outrage at the sentence, saying it should have been closer to the potential maximum of 14 years. "The whole system is guilty!" a group of about 20 people chanted near the corner of 14th Street and Broadway, as hundreds of other demonstrators streamed into the area and to nearby City Hall. Many wore "Justice for Oscar Grant" T-shirts. A...

OS ANGELES -- A judge sentenced former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle today to two years in state prison for fatally shooting unarmed train rider Oscar Grant during a video-recorded arrest in Oakland on Jan. 1, 2009. A jury in Los Angeles County, where the trial was moved, found Mehserle guilty of involuntary manslaughter in July, acquitting him of the more serious charges of murder and voluntary manslaughter. Mehserle testified that he killed Grant accidentally, after mistaking his service pistol and his Taser. The verdict meant that jurors concluded that Mehserle, 28, did not intend to kill Grant, 22, when...

1 p.m. Mehserle gets probation, 146 days served.

OAKLAND -- People seeking stiff punishment for Johannes Mehserle plan to gather Friday in downtown Oakland as the former BART police officer is sentenced for killing unarmed train rider Oscar Grant. Police and community leaders expect a smaller turnout than in past Mehserle-related demonstrations, some of which ended with vandalism and arrests. In a letter to the public, City Administrator Dan Lindheim said officials were not urging businesses to close, but instead to "use common-sense precautions and convey a sense of calm."Still, on Thursday, many downtown merchants were boarding up windows. Others had decorated their shops with photos of Grant,...

Slowed down video shows officer Mehserle bringing his left hand towards his pistol just before shooting Oscar Grant in the back, yet he fires the gun before his left hand has reached a support position. If he knew he was firing his pistol instead of his Taser, he would never have done this, and the video shows why. The recoiling pistol whacks Mehserle's left hand, which he then jerks upwards, away from the impact: The fatal second (37;05 – 37;29 of KTVU’s highlighted cell phone video of the shooting, slowed to 1/2 second a frame). Red circle (added) shows the...

OAKLAND — Nearly 1,000 people filled the street in front of Oakland City Hall on Thursday evening. They gathered to vent, pray, and ask how a Los Angeles jury could find Johannes Mehserle, a white former BART police officer, guilty of involuntary manslaughter for fatally shooting Oscar Grant III, an unarmed, 22-year-old black man from Hayward, in the back.At first, the crowd was electric, but not volatile. To respond with violence would dishonor Grant's memory, they said. Hundreds of Oakland police officers watched and endured taunts, spits and rocks from a small group that tried, but failed, to incite other...

OAKLAND — Mike Issa couldn't believe the "gift" last night's looters left behind in his ransacked Jitters & Shakes coffee shop at 21st and Webster streets in downtown Oakland. "You know what I say to the people who did this?" he asked, slapping a cracked cell phone on his counter. "I say, I have this phone here that you left when you smashed my store. That's a gift you've given me. Thank you for doing that. I can't wait to give this to the police." Issa was one of dozens of downtown business owners who arrived at work to find...

As the verdict reached the streets, hundreds converged in downtown Oakland for mostly peaceful protests before swelling to a crowd of more than a thousand, with a hard-core splinter group of rioters clashing with police and wreaking havoc in downtown. By late evening, hundreds of law enforcement officers from across the Bay Area had descended downtown to help local police quell the protesters. Wearing black masks, many looted stores, smashed windows and rolled trash bins into the streets while setting them on fire. At one point, protesters began throwing M-1000 fireworks at law enforcement officers and other demonstrators. Stephen Allen,...

(07-09) 09:59 PDT OAKLAND -- Law-enforcement officers arrested 83 people during Thursday night's protests in downtown Oakland over the involuntary manslaughter conviction of former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle for the shooting death of train rider Oscar Grant, police said today. The rallies began peacefully but soon degenerated into lawlessness, during which protesters looted businesses, sprayed anti-police graffiti on storefronts, set trash bins on fire and clashed with police wearing gas masks and riot helmets and carrying batons, authorities said. Police from agencies throughout the Bay Area were called in to help Oakland officers. Those arrested were booked on suspicion...

The U.S. Department of Justice will conduct an independent review of the Johannes Mehserle case in order to determine whether or not the shooting merits federal prosecution, according the department. "The Justice Department has been closely monitoring the state's investigation and prosecution," the department said in a statement. "The Civil Rights Division, the U.S. Attorney's Office, and the FBI have an open investigation into the fatal shooting and, at the conclusion of the state's prosecution, will conduct an independent review of the facts and circumstances to determine whether the evidence warrants federal prosecution." Congresswoman Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, said she has...

Racism is what people use to describe white people not liking people of "color". What do we call people of color that riot, destroy their own neighborhoods and shout for the death of white people? There is no word. Why? No one wants to say that ALL people are of color. White is a color. People of color shouting hate towards white people are just as racist as white people doing the same to people of color.

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Oakland police say people have broken into an athletic store near the city's downtown as hundreds of people protest the verdict in the case of a former transit officer. Johannes Mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter on Thursday in Los Angeles in the videotaped shooting death of an unarmed black man on an Oakland train platform.

Advance notice has been given that the verdict is to be read within the hour.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A white former transit officer was convicted of involuntary manslaughter Thursday in the shooting death of an unarmed black man on an Oakland train platform in a 2009 encounter that set off days of rioting in the city. The jury deliberated more than six hours over two days to convict Johannes Mehserle in the killing of 22-year-old Oscar Grant, who was shot to death as he lay face-down.

<p>Oakland (CNN) -- A verdict has been reached in the trial of a former police officer who is white and who is accused of killing an unarmed black man in Oakland, California, according to a superior court spokesman. The verdict will be read at 4 p.m. (7 p.m. ET).</p>