Defense starts in California train shooting trial

Hidas said he pulled over a car in October 2006 that hadn’t turned down its high beams. Three people were inside the vehicle, including Grant, who had an "item of contraband” on him, Hidas said. Grant initially complied but as Hidas made further commands, Grant got out of the car and ran away, the officer said.

Another police officer later caught up to Grant and used his stun gun that sent Grant stumbling into a parked car, Hidas said. Grant refused to show one of his hands to officers, so Hidas kicked him a couple of times to get him to comply, Hidas said.

"It was for our safety,” Hidas said of his response. "I believed he was armed.”

Jurors were prohibited from hearing that a .380 pistol was found about 20 feet from the site of the arrest, and Grant was later sentenced to 16 months in state prison for a gun possession charge.

Defense attorney Michael Rains sought to portray Grant, 22, as someone who hadn’t yielded to police before. Rains has argued that Mehserle, who is white, struggled with Grant, who is black, before his client mistakenly pulled out his handgun instead of his stun gun and fatally shot Grant on New Year’s Day 2009.

The shooting was captured on video by several bystanders and flared racial tensions that helped lead court officials to move the trial from Alameda County to Los Angeles.

Also called Tuesday was Jackie Bryson, one of Grant’s friends, who testified he saw BART officer Tony Pirone pull Grant off a train that pulled into the Fruitvale station after officers responded to a fight. Although one of the videos shows Pirone guiding Grant toward a wall where Bryson and others were seated, Bryson said Pirone had Grant by the neck and hip before slamming him against a wall.

"How did that make you feel?” Rains asked Bryson.

"Like Oscar was getting treated wrong,” said Bryson, 23, who wore a navy suit and swiveled in a chair on the witness stand. He added he wasn’t angry with Pirone, who has been described by some train passengers as being hostile and aggressive toward Grant and his friends, but "disappointed.”

Pirone was fired from BART in April.

Bryson also said he did speak to officers before the shooting and may have used profanity. He said he stood up — "a natural reaction —” when his friend was thrown against the wall. He said Grant was scared.

"He said, ’"Don’t (expletive) touch me. Call the real police. Call the Oakland police,”’ Bryson said of Grant.

A couple also testified about the fight aboard the BART train. Agnes Zafiratos and her husband, Dennis, said they were near the fight that started with pushing and eventually included punching.

"It was like birds fighting over a piece of bread,” said Agnes Zafiratos, who estimated as many as 10 people were involved in the fracas.

Dennis Zafiratos said he told the train operator over the intercom that the people involved in the fight were a group of black men and that he didn’t see any weapons. That description was forwarded from the operator to BART dispatch and relayed to Pirone and another officer.