By Paul T. Rosynsky
Oakland Tribune
LOS ANGELES — Former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle spoke in public for the first time Thursday as he took the witness stand in his own defense to explain why he shot an unarmed Oscar Grant in the back early New Year’s Day 2009.
Wearing a gray suit, blue shirt and red tie, Mehserle spoke in a quiet, nasally voice as he briefly described his childhood, his family and why he decided to become a police officer.
Mehserle’s roughly hour-long testimony Thursday also included a description of the Taser training he received from BART and how he thought fellow former BART police officer Anthony Pirone had an “aggressive” style in his police work.
But the explanation everyone following the case has waited to hear since Grant was killed won’t come until Friday morning as court broke for the day before defense attorney Michael Rains had an opportunity to question his client about the shooting.
Nevertheless, Mehserle’s appearance on the witness stand immediately changed the course of the murder trial and set up what promises to be a turning point in the case when prosecutor David Stein is expected to begin, Friday afternoon, his cross-examination of the 28-year-old.
Copyright 2010 Contra Costa Newspapers