Mehserle was on trial for shooting suspect Oscar Grant in the back of the head at point-blank range while Grant was handcuffed and lying face down on the ground. All captured on video and presented to the jury. Ultimately the jury found Mehserle guilty of involuntary manslaughter. He was sentenced to two years. With time off for good behavior and time served, he was free in less than eight months. Had the roles been reversed, a police officer handcuffed and executed by a suspect, that suspect would in all likelihood have been convicted of first degree murder, with special circumstances, received the death sentence, and even in California most likely executed.
American juries simply do not question authority. As a result they do not exist. Instead they all too often function as a public relations instrument of the police state. Particularly in politically motivated trials.
It was great that the McMillan jurors threw her a life preserver. That would not however have been necessary had she not been thrown overboard to begin with.
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