The attorney for a 22-year-old Black man who was shot to death by a Bay-Area California policeman on New Year’s Day says he will file a $25 million lawsuit, and he is demanding that prosecutors charge the officer with murder. “This is the most egregious shooting that I have ever seen,” said civil rights attorney John Burris, who is known for taking on high-profile police-abuse cases in the past. A videotape (see it here. Warning: Graphic Content)taken by a passenger on the train shows an officer with the Bay Area Rapid Transit Police Department standing over the Hayward, Calif., man, who was lying face down and handcuffed. The officer then appears to fire a bullet into the back of Oscar Grant III as fellow officers look on. Read the rest here.

Cop-shooting teen gets 25-50 years in prison

. Donyea Phillips, a 17-year-old a runaway, who had been squatting with a cousin in an East Frankford rooming house, was sentenced to 25-50 years in prison for shooting and wounding two Philadelphia drug officers serving a search warrant at the house, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer. Phillips, a suspected crack dealer who pleaded guilty in July to two counts of attempted murder and related charges, apologized to Officers Christopher Reed and Stephen Holts. Phillips insisted to Common Pleas Court Judge Glenn B. Bronson that he did not know police were trying to come through the door when he blindly fired through a window Nov. 13. “I was afraid for my life,” Phillips told Bronson, adding, “All I’m just asking is not to lock me up and throw away the key, because I’m changed.” The prison term drew gasps from some of the dozen relatives in court to support Phillips because it’s above the 5- to 10-year minimum recommended under state sentencing guidelines. However, it was also less than the 32-1/2 to 65 years requested by the prosecuting attorney. “I think this sentence was clearly excessive,” said defense attorney James A. Lammendola. He said he would file a motion asking the judge to reconsider the sentence. Explaining his sentence, the judge credited Phillips with accepting responsibility by pleading guilty and acknowledged his grim upbringing: “You had a horribly deprived childhood, there’s no doubt about that,” Bronson said. Kirk Heilbrun, a forensic psychologist hired by Phillips’ defense, testified that Phillips was the oldest of six children. Heilbrun said Phillips experienced mental and physical abuse by his parents and was largely responsible for caring for his siblings. But the judge said Phillips’ background did not excuse the fact that he was squatting in a house, selling crack cocaine and spending $100 a day for marijuana. “Sadly, other people have been in similar situations, but they don’t hole themselves up in a crack house and fire a gun at police officers,” Bronson said.