Ex-BART cop from Napa's murder trial set for October

Mehserle's attorney wants trial moved

OAKLAND — A former BART officer who grew up in Napa and is accused of murdering an unarmed man at an Oakland train station will stand trial Oct. 13, and his lawyer is asking to move the emotionally charged case to another city.

Defense attorney Michael Rains told an Alameda County Superior Court judge Thursday he planned to file a change of venue request in the next few months. Rains has said he does not believe his client, Johannes Mehserle, will get a fair trial in Alameda County.

Mehserle is charged with murdering 22-year-old Oscar Grant on New Year’s Day. The former Bay Area Rapid Transit officer shot Grant while he was lying face down on the platform after Grant and his friends were pulled off a train for allegedly fighting.

The case has fueled tension between Oakland’s black community and law enforcement. Mehserle, who has pleaded not guilty, is white. Grant was black.

Rains argues Mehserle, 27, meant to use his stun gun to restrain Grant, but accidentally pulled his pistol. Rains tried unsuccessfully to persuade a judge during a preliminary hearing that there wasn’t enough evidence for the murder charge.

Rains said Thursday he intends to file a motion to throw out Judge C. Don Clay’s decision to allow Mehserle to stand trial for murder.

Judge Morris Jacobson also set three dates in the case: July 24 for the motion to throw out the ruling that Mehserle could stand trial for murder; Sept. 11 for the change of venue hearing; and Oct. 13 for a trial.

Mehserle graduated from New Technology High School in Napa and also from the Napa Valley College Police Academy.

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