The decision on whether former Officer Johannes Mehserle will face criminal prosecution in the shooting death of 22-year-old Oscar Grant of Hayward now rests with prosecutors, said BART General Manager Dorothy Dugger.
"Now it is the district attorney's responsibility to decide whether to file charges in this case," Dugger said at a hastily arranged news conference at BART headquarters in Oakland. "We urge the district attorney to expeditiously review all the evidence available to him and bring this investigation to a conclusion."
14 witnesses and 6 officers involved were interviewed during the investigation. The total of 40 people were interviewed by BART.
The investigation has come under public pressure for a quick resolution. Homicide investigations should not be rushed. Sloppy investigative work could damage potential criminal prosecution. Red ball cases need to be handled carefully. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's office poorly managed the baby Sabrina Aisenberg case.
Theories: First off, the issue of police and prosecutorial misconduct in this case is jaw-dropping. One paper said afterward that the Keystone Kops would have done a better job than what they had done. After using rather doubtful evidence to obtain a wiretap of the Aisenberg's home, they can't get tapes that are understandable. So what do they do? Create manuscripts that have no basis in fact! All of the tapes were ruled to be largely inaudible by a judge, and were thrown out as evidence. There was a fingerprint that was not identified in the home, someone reported months later that someone they baby-sat for had a baby who bore a strong resemblence to Sabrina, as well as plans of the Aisenberg home, and several other break-ins of homes with babies in the area- I find the evidence is overwhelming for Sabrina having been kidnapped. Yet none of these factors clinched it for me. Rather, it was the disapearence of a blanket from her crib at the same time she vanished. Most people trying to cover up a murder wouldn't think of such a small detail, but if you had to take a baby outside on a November night, wouldn't you grab something to wrap them in? And if you were unfamiliar with the house, you'd grab the first thing you could. Like a crib blanket. The recent case of Delimar Vera is a lesson for all those who seek to bury Sabrina perhaps before her time. A child may be overlooked by those who seek a body.
Sabrina Aisenberg is still missing. No law enforcement officers were fired for their handling of the wiretaps.
Bill O'Reilly is using the Grant shooting to attack blacks.
Again, everybody knows American law enforcement officers cannot be shooting suspects who are helpless on the ground. No civilized society can tolerate that. But cities like Oakland should not be tolerating high crime rates either. The folks should be helping the cops combat that.
Selective outrage is in play here. High crime breeds police abuse. Riots are criminal acts. The good people of Oakland should do something about all this.
I'm sure the citizens of Oakland wished their crime rate was lower. People do not wake and say "I'm glad I live in a crime infested neighborhood." O'Reilly's racism works it's way into several Talking Points. O'Reilly was shocked that blacks in the Harlem restaurant Sylvia’s eat in a civilized manner.
O’REILLY: There wasn’t one person in Sylvia’s who was screaming, “Motherfucker, I want more iced tea.”
WILLIAMS: Please–
O’REILLY: You know, I mean, everybody was — it was like going into an Italian restaurant in an all-white suburb in the sense of people were sitting there, and they were ordering and having fun. And there wasn’t any kind of craziness at all.
O'Reilly should stay away from issues involving race. If O'Reilly chose not to be willfully ignorant, he would know the pastor at Grant's funeral urged the black community to stay calm. The rioting only hurts business and home owner that have no direct involvement with the Grant shooting. Ken Epstein of the Oakland Post was covering the story. His car was burned during a riot.
"I'm sorry my car was burned but the issue is very upsetting."
Epstein is sympathetic to the black community's anger. Burning his car serves no purpose. Black leaders and Oakland officials need to calm people and put this red ball case down.
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