Aftermath of the Mehserle Verdict
A jury in Los Angeles found Johannes Mehserle, a former Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer, guilty of involuntary manslaughter yesterday. Mehserle fatally shot an unarmed BART passenger, Oscar Grant, in Oakland on New Year's Day of 2009. The victim's family and many others in Oakland had hoped for a murder verdict, and there was some vandalism and looting last night. But the vast majority of the protests were peaceful.
Familial DNA Leads To An Arrest
A man who Los Angeles police believe is a serial killer who eluded capture for two decades is behind bars today. Authorities say the break came after they searched California's criminal DNA database and found a partial match to the DNA that was on file for the murders -- from the suspect's son, a convicted felon. The use of familial DNA searches raises concerns about ethics and civil liberties.