The Summer's First Riot:  Hundreds of rioters tore up downtown Oakland Thursday night after a Los Angeles jury convicted Bart police officer Johannes Mehserle of involuntary manslaughter for the Jan. 1, 2009 shooting death of Oscar Grant, according to this story by San Francisco Chronicle reporter Henry K. Lee.  Most of the damage, which included the setting of fires, spraying graffiti, breaking store front windows and doors, and looting,  occurred in a six block area near City Hall. This morning the city's police chief reported that 3/4 of those arrested were not Oakland residents.  Indicative of the mindset of the protesters were statements such as "Kill all Cops,"  "Riot for Oscar,"  and "Say no to work, yes to looting," spray painted on building walls.   NPR writer Richard Gonzalez reports that the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division will review the case. 

Death Sentence Upheld:  More Oakland crime news.  Chronicle writer Bob Egelko reports that the California Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of Gregory Tate for the brutal 1988 murder of social worker Sarah LaChapelle.  The victim's body suffered 24 stab wounds and 28 puncture wounds.  When her son discovered her, she had a butcher knife and a barbeque fork sticking out of her body and her ring finger had been cut off.  The decision  notes that Tate was found with the victim's car, belongings, and blood on his clothes.  His initial alibi was that a man named Fred killed the victim and loaned him the car.  The story changed when police informed Tate that Fred had been in jail at the time of the murder.  Among his claims on appeal, Tate attacked challenges to several potential jurors, claimed that he was tricked into waiving his Miranda rights, and suggested that the prosecutor's facial expressions constituted misconduct.