The trial of ex-BART cop Johannes Mehserle is nowhere near to getting started, and yet his lawyer is already attempting a Hail Mary legal maneuver that has virtually no chance of success. Attorney Michael Rains has asked an Alameda County judge to disqualify county District Attorney Tom Orloff and his entire office from the case, and replace them with Jerry Brown’s Attorney General’s Office, according to the Chron. Rains contends that Orloff sent two Oakland cops to question and arrest Mehserle after the former BART cop had already lawyered up. Rains says that’s a big legal no-no, because Mehserle can’t be questioned after he has an attorney, unless that attorney is present. The only problem with Rains’ argument is that the cops never got to Mehserle because he had turned himself in on charges of murdering Oscar Grant. So at best, Orloff ordered the cops to do something they shouldn’t.
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