Ryan A. Simon
posted to Laney Tower website 1/18/10 @ 7:03 PM PST
This event, and this issue, is a charged one to say the least, on that I think we can all agree. I find serious flaws in both Laney College teacher Chris Weidenbach's piece, as well as its commentators. They both reflect deep bias on behalf of on the one hand former BART officer Johannes Merserle, and on the other shooting victim Oscar Grant. The reality is that neither man should be lionized. One is a BART officer guilty of at the very least poor judgment, another, a young man with a troubled and far from ideal past. Mel, the last commentator is barely worth responding to but I will just say it is not radical leftist that hurt Oakland but those who lie to themselves about its problems: a city strapped talent in leadership and education which has served its citizens poorly for decades.As far as the article goes, Mr. Weidenbach negates his own argument that the trial should stay in Oakland when he writes that:
Judge Morris Jacobson's decision to move the trial seemed to be based mainly on the notion that large and/or vigorous protests near the courthouse could severely intimidate jurors as they physically entered and exited the courthouse.
No doubt Mr. Weidenbach saw the "protests" which were actually more like riots in which many community businesses were the victims of uncontrolled anger by anarchistic participants. Of course "the killer" could be denied a fair trial guaranteed to him under the law, the jury pool is drawn from a community rightly angered by years of police misconduct. And it is for that very reason that the trial has been moved to a county reflecting Alameda's ethnic composition: Los Angeles. If one has been paying attention, one of new Oakland police chief Anthony Batts main focal points is something he engaged in this very week, when he disciplined police officers involved in a shooting for bad judgement. As far as the delay in time, the author may be right that this trial has been delayed too long, and Reginald might be right that he is a killer, but this is still a country under a constitution and any accused should have the right to a fair trial. In this case that means moving it.
