BART Police shooting incident

I've watched the video and have some experience with fire arms and I'm inclined to believe the theory that he thought it was his tazer, especially based off his reaction after hearing the pop. It's a sad incident indeed.

This interview of former Officer Mehserle has just come out from the Associated Press through the Mercury News, so I thought that I would re-open this thread. Judging by the jurors actions and coupled with the fact that this charge became "aggravated" due to a gun being involved, I believe that this guy is being roasted over the coals. This is a politically correct move made by politicians to appease a liberal constituency. This was an accident. Mehserle never should have (1) been a police officer, or (2) been charged criminally. He should have been terminated from the department and allowed to suffer his fate civilly (indemnified by BART who could then explain why they hired him and how they trained him).

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_1647 ... ck_check=1

Former BARTPD officer Mehserle has been sentenced to prison for involuntary manslaughter. As I wondered about previously, he did announce that he was about to use his Taser, indicating his intent. He also, according to witnesses, made repeated excited utterances regarding that he had "shot" the victim after the shot was fired. They found that Mehserle had been "negligent", which was the basis of his charge. Maybe it's me, but "negligent" to me is failing to secure children in a car. It's not what the elderly do when they confuse the gas pedal with the brake. Which do you think is closer to Mehserle's actions ?
From the S.F. Chronicle-
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 1G7HVS.DTL