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Mehserle loses plea to have bail reduced - Inside Bay Area : “Although former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle is free on $3 million bail in his murder case, he recently sought but lost a plea to have it reduced, a court order obtained by the Tribune revealed. Michael Rains, Mehserle's defense attorney, sought a $2.9 million reduction of bail in the case, arguing that Alameda County Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson "manipulated the facts" regarding his client's flight risk when the judge issued the original bail amount in January.”

A well-placed source reported to me that BART Shooting victim Oscar Grant was found to have Crack Cocaine in his body, and planted through his buttocks. My source also accuses KTVU TV (Oakland, CA) News of delaying video release. My source is a long-time law enforcement official who has seen cases like this more often than not -- but this case given the video evidence, is different.  My source originally tipped me off to the extense of a third KTVU video of the Oscar Grant shooting by BART Police Officer Johannes Mesherle.   He said that  the video showed that another BART officer was clearly on Grant and beating him.  The source said that KTVU was withholding the video because they did not want to start a race-riot. The second tip regards the Crack Cocaine matter.  He claims that the autopsy, which is to be completed by March according, shows that the drugs were stuffed in his body via his buttocks.   My source holds that this is why -- he co...

I thought there wasn't going to be a bail set, but now I'm interested in why this turned to a bail hearing. OAKLAND TRIBUNE - OAKLAND— Bail for former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle, accused of murdering a 22-year-old Hayward man while on duty early New Year's Day, was set at $3 million Friday by an Alameda County judge who said Mehserle was both a danger to society and a flight risk. Noting that the crime Mehserle is accused of is serious and the officer's account of the events that led to Oscar Grant's death seems to contain contradictions, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson said he was forced to set bail according to state law. However, Jacobson ruled that the bail amount is high enough to ensure that Mehserle will not skip town if his parents are somehow able to find $3 million to free their son