LOS ANGELES — A jury has convicted a white former transit officer of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of an unarmed black man, Oscar Grant, on an Oakland train platform.
Johannes Mehserle was found guilty on Thursday in the New Year’s Day 2009 killing of 22-year-old Oscar Grant. Involuntary manslaughter carries a sentence of two to four years.
At least five bystanders videotaped the incident – one of the most racially polarizing cases in California since four Los Angeles officers were acquitted in 1992 in the beating of Rodney King.
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Prosecutors said the 28-year-old Mehserle became angry at Grant for resisting arrest. Mehserle claims he mistakenly drew his gun instead of his Taser.
The trial was moved to Los Angeles after racial tensions boiled over into violence in Oakland.
