Mehserle Guilty of Involuntary Manslaughter, Grant's Family Upset With Verdict

Police officer Johannes Mehserle was convicted today of involuntary manslaughter for the shooting death of Oscar Grant. An attorney for Grant’s family says  that they are unhappy with the verdict, saying that the “verdict is not a true representation of what happened” to Oscar Grant.

Attorney John Burris said that the family was “extremely disappointed” with the verdict. Burris said that Mehserle should have been convicted of murder, but instead, they treated the case like he “ran a light instead of killing someone.”

Oscar Grant was killed on New Years Eve in 2009, when Mehserle fatally mistook his gun for his taser, and shot Grant in the back.

Mercury News reports that the panel took 6 1/2 hours to deliberate before coming to a guilty verdict and convicting Mehserle of involuntary manslaughter.

Involuntary manslaughter carries a sentence of two to four years.