UPDATE: California Attorney General Rob Bonta to Review Oscar Grant Case
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Tuesday that the state's Department of Justice would conduct an independent review of the 2009 fatal officer-involved shooting of Oscar Grant.
The release issued by Bonta's office said the review would focus on former BART police officer Anthony Pirone's involvement in the fatal shooting of Grant at the Fruitvale BART Station early the morning of New Year's Day, January 1, 2009.
The officer who shot Grant, Johannes Mehserle, was charged by the Alameda County District Attorney's Office with murder and convicted of involuntary manslaughter.
Last April, the Alameda County District Attorney's Office issued a report concluding that no criminal charges would be brought against Pirone. Following the decision, Oscar Grant's mother, Ms. Wanda Johnson, the BART Board of Directors, the Justice 4 Oscar Grant Coalition and a number of local community leaders requested that the California Department of Justice review the report.
Consistent with the department's longstanding practice and at Attorney General Bonta's instruction, the California Department of Justice has committed to engaging in its own thorough review of Pirone's involvement in the fatal incident.
The Grant family and a number of activist groups have been critical of O'Malley's decision not to prosecute Pirone, claiming that the former BART police officer's actions escalated the situation, leading to Grant being fatally shot by Mehserle.
"Transparency is critical to building and maintaining trust between law enforcement and the communities we serve," Bonta said in the release. "The California Department of Justice is committed to conducting a thorough, fair, and independent review and will go where the facts lead."
The Justice 4 Oscar Grant Coalition last May announced it was moving ahead with the recall campaign against O'Malley, even though the district attorney had announced she would not to seek re-election.
