Mehserle Sentencing

LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Perry has yet to make a decision today in the sentencing of former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle, but has made several statements indicating that he will not impose the maximum sentence and might throw out the gun-enhancement charge.
Mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in July in the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Oscar Grant III on the Fruitvale BART platform.
Perry said he has "serious concerns" about the gun-enhancement charge. Without it, Mehserle Sentencing would face the maximum of four years.
Perry also chastised Mehserle and Grant supporters as he read excerpts from letters and post cards he received. Perry said he was troubled by the lack of knowledge many people in the community had, in particularly a school principal who said Mehserle should get the maximum sentence because he committed murder.
"What troubled me is that this comes from an individual who identifies herself as a school principal," Perry said.
He said that "It's troubling to this court that the community is ... polarized and that is a tragedy is this case"

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Sparky Anderson Death

Sparky Anderson, the first major league manager to win a World Series in both the American and National Leaguesdied Thursday of complications from dementia, according to a statement released Thursday from his family.
Anderson was 76.
The white-haired “Captain Hook,” whose once-startling tendency to yank pitchers early and often is now considered routine practice, had a career in two acts: the first with the Cincinnati Reds in their Big Red Machine era, when the team won the 1975 and 1976 World Series; and the second with the Detroit Tigers, where he remains the manager with the longest tenure and most victories. He guided the Tigers to a World Series victory in 1984.

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