Oscar Grant case: Johannes Mehserle will not be tried for murder

The camcorder tells the take in this case 

As the Oscar Grant trail, where former BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle was originally tried for first degree murder comes to a close, a major development happened on Wednesday. According to NBC Bay Area, Judge Robert Perry ruled that Johannes Mehserle could not be tried for first-degree murder, pointing to "an absence of premeditation."

That's a huge development for Johannes Mehserle and gives some Oscar Grant supporters heart-burn because a successful first-degree murder would have certainly meant life in prison or worse. Instead, Johannes Mehserle's now looking at four options: second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter or acquittal. Here's a closer look at what those terms mean:

Second-degree murder is defined as "an intentional killing that is not premeditated or planned, nor committed in a reasonable 'heat of passion' or a killing caused by dangerous conduct and the offender's obvious lack of concern for human life," according to FindLaw.com

Voluntary manslaughter is "an intentional killing in which the offender had no prior intent to kill, such as a killing that occurs in the "heat of passion." The circumstances leading to the killing must be the kind that would cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed."

Involuntary manslaughter is "an unintentional killing that results from recklessness or criminal negligence, or from an unlawful act that is a misdemeanor or low - level felony (such as DUI). The usual distinction from voluntary manslaughter is that involuntary manslaughter (sometimes called "criminally negligent homicide") is a crime in which the victim's death is unintended."

Acquittal means that Johannes Mehserle would walk away a free, innocent man.

Jury expected to take weeks to make a decision

It's been reported that the jury in the case would make a decision by Friday, but this space can't see that happening. Judge Robert Perry just gave the jury a new set of considerations, whereas under the first-degree murder charge, Mehserle would have certainly walked away a free man.

But if the jury deadlocks on a verdict, Mehserle would still walk away, but on a technicality.

Given the new choices, Mehserle should get voluntary manslaughter.  The video camera makes the difference in this case.  Without it and the shocking videos we've seen, Johannes Mehserle would have been set free.  Now, that doesn't appear to be the case.

Stay tuned.