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Defense Says Calif. Cop Mistook Gun For Taser

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Jan 30, 2009 3:00 pm US/Central

Defense Says Calif. Cop Mistook Gun For Taser

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 Complete BART Shooting Coverage
OAKLAND, Calif. (CBS) ― The lawyer for a former Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer who shot and killed an unarmed man said his client may have mistakenly pulled his service pistol instead of a stun gun, according to court documents, reports CBS station KPIX-TV.

Attorney Michael Rains made the argument Friday in urging a judge to grant 27-year-old Johannes Mehserle bail.

Mehserle has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder in the death of 22-year-old Oscar Grant III, who was killed early New Year's Day. 

Amateur videos of the incident show the officer shooting Grant as he was lying facedown on a train platform at BART's Fruitvale station in Oakland. Grant died of a gunshot wound to his torso.

But in the court filing Friday, Rains said witness accounts indicate that Mehserle meant to draw his Taser, but instead pulled his pistol.

Rains said Mehserle did not act with malice when he fired.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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