Scenes from Downtown Oakland in Lead Up to Expected Mesherle Sentencing, 11/5/10: photos

"A Day to Honor Oscar Grant - Response to the Sentencing of Johannes Mehserle" is set for this afternoon in front of City Hall at 14th and Broadway: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/11/04/18663121.php. A previously planned march from Frank Ogawa to Li'l Bobby Hutton (DeFremery) Park in West Oakland, after the 6pm conclusion of the gathering downtown, has been canceled by organizers.

Interestingly, the corporate media reported the following:

David Kant-Wofford and others have quietly reached out to some of the anarchist groups that targeted the city after the verdict, urging them to pursue nonviolent measures if and when they choose to resurface for the sentencing. "This is the first time an organized group has made it clear to them that we would prefer they didn't (engage in violence)" said Kant-Wofford. "We told them that we would prefer that they not be violent."

While today is the day that Judge Robert Perry scheduled for sentencing, Johannes Mehserle's attorney Michael Rains has filed a motion for a new trial, based on supposed misconduct by the Alameda County prosecutor, so it is not guaranteed that sentencing will happen today. A variety of other rulings or delays might come out of the court. Regardless, most observers doubt that the conservative Judge Perry -- who presided over the non-convictions of all but one LAPD officer in the notorious L.A. Rampart Scandal -- will sentence Mehserle to the maximum 14 years, while many fear the judge may release Mehserle from jail on probation with time served.