On Thursday, Novemember 19th, Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson ordered that Johannes Mehserle's trial for the murder of Oscar Grant be moved to Los Angeles County. In the hearing to decide if the venue should be held in San Diego County or Los Angeles County, the determining factors were: pretrial publicity, relative hardship to parties, conservation of judicial resources and public funds, and demographics.

Los Angeles currently claims it is not to be able to take the case for another six to twelve months. While San Diego is able to schedule the trial at an earlier date, Los Angeles already has the facilities to handle high profile cases and would not bill Alameda County taxpayers for the cost of the judge and security enhancements. Mehserle and his defense team, though, had previously waved his right to a speedy trial, so there remains the possibility that the defense will revoke that waiver which would put pressure on Los Angeles to move the trial date forward, and if L.A. was not able to, then the trial could yet be moved to San Diego.

Read More | Photos | Southern California: First Cop on Trial for Murder in the History of the State Is Headed Your Way

See Also: Rekonize Newsletter v1i1 | Violence again on BART involving police and passenger | Oscar Grant Case: Trial of Mehserle to be held in Los Angeles | LA Indymedia 10-Year Anniversary: "Troublemaking: The Worst and Best of Indybay" | Town Hall on Environmental Justice in Oakland and Mehserle Change of Venue, 11/7/09: audio | BART Police Review Committee on Hiring New Police Chief and New Year's Eve Plans, 11/4/09: audio and PDFs | "Operation Small Axe" Highlights Resistance in Oakland's Occupied Territories: Review & Trailer | Town Hall on BART Police, DA Failing in Mehserle Change of Venue, and Rape of Women, 10/31/09: audio | Town Hall on Venue Change, State BART Hearing, and Oakland Merchant Credit, 10/24/09: audio | Who leaked information about Mehserle's change of venue? Los Angeles or San Diego? Next hearing Nov 19th | Judge Orders Change of Venue in Oscar Grant Case-Outrageous… and Unjust! | Town Hall for Justice for Oscar Grant Faces Mehserle Venue Change Order, 10/17/09: audio | CA Assembly Hearing on BART's Deeply Inept, Reckless, and Corrupt Police Force: audio and PDFs

Previous Related Indybay Features: Mehserle's Trial to Be Held Outside of Alameda | Indybay Coverage of the Justice for Oscar Grant Movement