Oscar Grant is still dead.
OAKLAND -- Former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle was released from jail early Monday morning after serving just over 11 months of a two-year-prison term given to the 29-year-old after he was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for killing Oscar Grant III.
Mehserle's release at 12:01 a.m. was confirmed by a Los Angeles County Men's Jail automated notification system which sent out alerts as soon as the former Napa resident was allowed to walk free.
Although Mehserle was sentenced to state prison for his conviction, he was never handed over to the California Department of Corrections because of safety concerns. Mehserle's attorney Michael Rains successfully argued to keep Mehserle in Los Angeles County jail where he was held in his own cell and apart from other inmates.
Mehserle also did not serve the entire two-year sentence given by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Robert Perry because of credits he received for time served. Mehserle was put in jail immediately after a Los Angeles jury found him guilty of involuntary manslaughter on July 8, 2010.
-Inside Bay Area
Yesterday, a protest march and two large rallies were held in Oakland. People are upset at the lenient sentence, and the fact that Mehserle didn't even have to serve his entire sentence.
And now he gets to start a new life with the help of his connections through the brotherhood of racist cops.
Rains said Mehserle was hopeful to find a job in retail.
He's had retail type work for a long time and sales jobs,” Rains said. “He also has technical knowledge on computers."
"He's gotten a couple of offers," Mehserle's attorney told KTVU.
-KTVU
