Fuck This! Judge grants bail to BART cop who killed Grant

Skeptical judge grants bail to former BART cop
Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writer

Friday, January 30, 2009
(01-30) 15:31 PST OAKLAND -- Former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle declared that he was going to fire his Taser stun gun, not his pistol, just before he shot an unarmed man he was trying to arrest early New Year's Day at an Oakland station, his attorney argued in persuading a judge today to set bail in Mehserle's murder case.

<snip>

Rains gave the account in a motion asking Judge Morris Jacobson to release Mehserle on bail while the former officer defends himself against murder charges. Jacobson agreed to set bail at $3 million, even as he expressed deep skepticism about the account in Rains' motion.

After a one-hour hearing in Alameda County Superior Court, Jacobson said Mehserle "has a willingness to add to the story, to change the story, to make up something that's not true to avoid consequences."

It was not immediately clear whether Mehserle would be able to post bail and be released from Santa Rita Jail. Before the hearing, Rains said Mehserle could not afford a high bail but that his parents might be able to put up the money.

<snip>

hope he can't afford the bail.


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/30/BABI15KCD5.DTL

I hope he can't raise the bail.

I have no problem with this.

Was Charles Manson given bail? What about Jeffrey Dahmer?

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. -- 8th Amendment, United States Constitution

From Wikipedia:
Thus, the Eighth Amendment has been interpreted to mean that bail may be denied if the charges are sufficiently serious. The Supreme Court has also permitted "preventive" detention without bail. In United States v. Salerno, 481 U.S. 739 (1987), the Supreme Court held that the only limitation imposed by the bail clause is that "the government's proposed conditions of release or detention not be 'excessive' in light of the perceived evil."


The judge viewed the bail to be sufficient for the perceived crime. For serial killers and mental deranged individuals, such as Manson and Dahmer, their perceived crimes warranted indefinite detention. It is common for 'average' murder suspects to receive bail.

10% is the going rate in Cali.

know what is transpiring with respect to this case.

He most likely will not be able to post bond, unless someone steps in to help him, like that grandiose, publicity-seeking moron who helped Casey Anthony.

This case is so bizarre. At first I actually fell for that excuse that he had to be thinking he was reaching for his taser, but after reading some great, almost frame-by-frame analysis of the footage of the crime, plus seeing newer views of the situation and crime with my own eyes, this began to look way, way worse than anyone could imagine.

There probably should be another person charged with the crime as well.

P.S.

Thank you for posting this and reminding all of us of this story.

The violence in this nation right now is so frequent and horrific that it's hard to even keep track of all the crimes, murder-suicides, etc...

:evilgrin: