Judge to block cameras from Mehserle trial, court says

OAKLAND — The only way to witness the murder trial against former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle will be to sit in the Los Angeles courtroom where the proceedings will take place, a judge indicated this week. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry told Los Angeles Superior Court media relations officials this week that he will deny requests for cameras — both still and video — in his courtroom during the trial. "We had a conversation with him in which we asked him what his intentions are, and he indicated his intention is that there are no cameras," said Allan Parachini, a spokesman for the court. "That is consistent with his approach to all the other cases we had with him." Perry was chosen Wednesday by the state's top judge to preside over the case in which the former BART officer is accused of murder in the killing of Oscar Grant III, 22, of Hayward, early Jan. 1 on the Fruitvale BART station platform. The case was moved to Los Angeles earlier this month by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson, who declared that Mehserle could not receive a fair trial in Alameda County because of intense media coverage and the threat of violence. Parachini said Perry's decision on banning cameras from the courtroom was not official because the judge had not received requests from media outlets. "Regardless of what he told us yesterday, I would still file the media request, which will give us another opportunity to talk to him," he said.