27 June 201116 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Police officer who killed Oscar Grant free, some protesters still face jail

originally by: Truthout
19th June 2011

Johannes Mehserle, the former BART police officer who shot and killed Oscar Grant while he was lying face down on the Fruitvale station train platform on New Year’s Day 2009, was released from a Los Angeles jail June 13 after serving a total of 365 days for his involuntary manslaughter conviction. He was sentenced to two years behind bars, but Judge Robert Perry granted him an early release due to credit for time served and good behavior.

The same date of his release, the National Lawyers Guild filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of 150 protesters who were mass-arrested during the Nov. 5, 2010 demonstration in Oakland in the wake of Mehersle’s sentencing.

22 May 201116 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Stephen Lawrence pair face murder trial

originally published by: BBC News
18th May 2011

Two men are to stand trial for the murder of Stephen Lawrence. Gary Dobson, 35, and David Norris, 34, are accused of killing the black teenager at a bus stop in Eltham, south-east London, on 22 April 1993. Nobody has been convicted of the crime but a small team of Scotland Yard detectives has continued to investigate the 18-year-old’s death.

Mr Dobson stood trial in 1996 over the murder – which he denied – and he was acquitted. On Wednesday the Court of Appeal concluded that there was enough new and substantial evidence to allow Dobson’s acquittal to be quashed.

22 May 201116 December 2022 4WardEverUK