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UID:Indybay-18726862
SEQUENCE:18827377
CREATED:20121201T024400Z
DESCRIPTION:Oscar Grant Plaintiffs Fight Appeal\nFed appeals court to hear defense of 
 civil rights ruling\nSan Francisco — On Monday morning, two prominent 
 civil rights attorneys will argue before the U.S. Court of Appeals that the 
 BART police officers whose actions led to the killing of Oscar Grant should 
 not receive legal immunity against a civil lawsuit because their actions 
 were unconstitutional.\nOakland attorneys Dan Siegel and John Burris will 
 appear in Courtroom 1 at 9 a.m. at the federal courthouse at 7th and 
 Mission to defend federal Judge Marilyn Patel’s decision last year that 
 Marysol Domenici and Anthony Pirone could not, based on police immunity, 
 summarily dismiss the suit brought by Grant’s estate and a group of his 
 friends who were on the train platform the night of his slaying in the 
 early morning hours of New Year’s Day, 2009.\nAmong the issues to be 
 debated are whether the officers had reasonable cause to detain the group 
 of revelers, who were standing on the platform as the train idled at 
 Oakland’s Fruitvale BART station, and whether ignoring the officers 
 initial, allegedly unfounded, demands is a protected civil right.\nThe 
 plaintiffs in the civil case argue that the arrests were unlawful and thus 
 outside the scope of immunity for harm granted to police doing their job 
 within constitutional parameters. Officer Pirone has testified he 
 approached Grant’s group and demanded their compliance based on the fact 
 that a radio dispatch had identified a group fighting as being “black 
 males” and wearing black clothing, which he later admitted better 
 described a different group he passed by.\nPatel held in her June, 2011 
 ruling that, “It is well-established law . . . that general appearance, 
 including racial characteristics that reflect a significant portion of the 
 population, is of little probative value absent a more particularized set 
 of circumstances that would indicate the possibility the suspects are 
 engaged in criminal activity.”\nIn what has since become a rallying event 
 for opponents of police brutality, Grant was shot dead by BART Officer 
 Johannes Mehserle while lying prone, face down, on the cement and his arms 
 behind his back. The killing, recorded by train passengers with cell phone 
 cameras, appeared as a police execution to a shocked public. Mehserle’s 
 subsequent murder trial further enflamed controversy when he received what 
 critics perceived as a light sentence of two years, with double credit for 
 time already served. He was released on June 13, 2011.\nSupporters, friends 
 and family of the Oscar Grant and the plaintiffs are expected to pack the 
 courtroom Monday.\n###\nDan Siegel and Dean Royer of Siegel & Yee represent 
 plaintiffs Jack Bryson, Jr., Nigel Bryson, Michael Greer, and Carlos Reyes 
 in this suit. To schedule interviews, contact Christopher Scheer at (510) 
 735-7394 or scheer@siegelyee.com\n 
 https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/11/30/18726862.php
SUMMARY:Hearing in Oscar Grant lawsuit
LOCATION:Federal couthouse at 7th and Mission Strrets, San Francisco.
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/11/30/18726862.php
DTSTART:20121203T170000Z
DTEND:20121203T200000Z
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