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July 2, 2010

Jury Deliberations Expected in Oscar Grant Killing Trial
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In California, jury deliberations are expected to begin today in the
trial of a former Bay Area police officer who shot dead the unarmed
African American passenger Oscar Grant last year. The officer, Johannes
Mehserle, was videotaped shooting Grant in the back while Grant lay face
down on a subway platform. The twenty-two year old Grant worked as a
butcher at an Oakland grocery store and was the father of a
four-year-old daughter. Mehserle faces 15 years to life in prison on
second-degree murder charges. Meanwhile Thursday, the California
Assembly unanimously approved a measure to increase oversight of alleged
misconduct by Bay Area Rapid Transit police officers. The legislation
was introduced following outcry over Grant’s shooting death.



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