The preliminary hearing for the former BART police officer accused of murdering Oscar Grant III on New Year's Day ended last Thursday with the judge ruling there was enough evidence to try the officer for murder.

The hearing lasted seven days and ended with the judge barring additional witnesses, saying they were irrelevant to his decision. Former officer Johannes Mehserle will return to court on June 18 to have a trial date set, according to a Bay City News report.

If Mehserle is convicted at the trial, the jury will decide whether he committed manslaughter or murder.

In the hearing, the defense sought to soften the charge to manslaughter by proving Mehserle had intended to use his Taser instead of his gun to shoot Grant. But Alameda County Superior Court Judge C. Don Clay said Thursday he did not believe these claims, according to Bay City News.

"There is no doubt in my mind that Mr. Mehserle intended to shoot Oscar Grant with a gun, not a Taser," Clay said, adding that Mehserle's handling of the weapon was inconsistent with the use of a Taser.

Video of the incident appears to show that Mehserle drew his weapon with his dominant, right hand and held it with both hands as he shot.

BART police Officer Tony Pirone testified that he was advised in training to use his non-dominant hand to deploy a Taser, although he added officers are permitted to use either hand.

However, Pirone's training may have differed from Mehserle's, according to Dale Allen, the attorney representing BART in the wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of Grant's family.

Allen said Mehserle was carrying his Taser in a position in which he would draw it with his right hand in accordance with his training.

"The manner in which he fired the weapon that night is inconsistent with his training on firearms and consistent with his training for the Taser," he said.

Pirone, who helped Mehserle arrest Grant, also testified that Mehserle appeared surprised after the shooting, which the defense claimed as evidence that Mehserle did not intend to use his gun.

But John Burris, the attorney for Grant's family, said the evidence does not show Mehserle explicitly saying he had made a mistake immediately after the shooting, making the Taser theory unlikely. He said the defense's claim that Mehserle thought Grant was going for a gun was more believable.

"I always thought the Taser was a contrived defense put forward by others because they wanted to believe that (Mehserle) wouldn't have shot some man for no reason," he said. "I would want to believe that, too ... (but) he didn't act like it was a mistake."

On Friday, Mehserle's attorney Michael Rains said he plans to request a change of venue for the upcoming trial to ensure an unbiased jury pool, according to the Associated Press.

Tags: ALAMEDA COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT, JOHANNES MEHSERLE, BART POLICE