johannes mehserle was released from l.a. county jail this morning. why we never saw him and who was here waiting. a group of protestors is suing the city of oakland and oakland police. what the protestors said police did to violate their constitutional rights. how a federal judge's sexual orientation prompted the latest challenge to a ruling that might allow gay marriage. >> good afternoon. topping our news for the

first time in months, johannes mehserle is a free man. the former b.a.r.t. police officer was released from the los angeles county jail at 12:01 this morning after serving 11 months for involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of oscar grant. claudine wong explains why no one other than jailors saw him lead. >> reporter: grant's uncle saw johannes mehserle walk out. >> anxiety, of course. um -- the work that has to be done, much thought about that and how to get it done. >> reporter: but mehserle never emerged. instead, johnson got this automated phone call. >> this man is no longer in custody. >> they just notified me of his actual release. >> reporter: 12:25? >> it is 12:25. yes.

. >> reporter: normally when an inmate is released, he comes out this door but we got indications early on that johannes mehserle's release would be anything but typical. mehserle's attorneys were concerned about safety. >> concerned enough that we feel -- and i think the sheriff's department in l.a. felt -- that this is not the situation, a typical situation where when one is released, they walk out the front door >> reporter: he was released quietly and the focus is on what is next. >> oh, boy quick hope a job, you know. he's gotten a couple of offers but, you know, offers for jobs up in northern california are dependent on the mood and the climate of the people people up here. whether he stays in northern california and is employed here or goes somewhere else, you know, will be something we'll look at over the next few weeks >> reporter: his lawyer said mehserle wants to reach out to the family of officer grant,

although they aren't interested. you don't want to have any discussion with him from this point on. >> no, no discussion at all but i want him to know i will be a part of his life the rest of his life. >> reporter: today as mehserle looks to the future, the grant family continues their effort to make sure no one forgets his past. in los angeles, claudine wong, channel 2 news. this morning, about two dozen protestors rallied at the los angeles county superior can courthouse where mehserle was try and convicted for the killing of oscar grant. grant family members and the los angeles coalition for justice for oscar grant expressed frustration over mehserle's release. protestors said grant's case is one more example of injustice within the system and they say people are more passionate than ever about change. >> these issues and everything right here -- hey, have been lying dormant for some but they're alive today. >> protestors march to the federal courthouse. the grant family has made

repeated requests to the department of justice to look into the shooting and investigation. oakland police confirm this morning that officers made just one arrest during a protest yesterday against mehserle's release. some store owners were concerned the demonstration would turn violent and show their support for oscar grant with posters in doors and windows. they took this video this morning. other businesses like t mobile and men's warehouse boarded windows and reopened this morning with those windows still covered. >> we want justice for who? >> oscar grant! >> the protest began with a rally at the fruitvale b.a.r.t. station where grant was killed two years ago. around 300 people marched to city hall downtown. there are no scheduled protests for oakland today. you may recall thrallly last august in support of mehserle. two dozen people attended. yesterday, the president of the peace officers research

association of california, which paid for mehserle's defense, told "the san francisco chronicle" mehserle did not receive any special treatment and this sentence was fair. referring to yesterday's protest, ron gottenham said the protestors are "trying to stir up something that doesn't need to be stirred up." the local casual of the national lawyers guild filed class-action lawsuit against the oakland police department and this is tied to the 150 demonstrators after the sentencing of mehserle. here's the reason behind this lawsuit? >> reporter: the lawsuit doesn't name the oakland police department but the city also, the police chief, and nine supervisors with o.p.d. now, the incident is specific. as you mentioned, it has to do with the arrest of 150 people involve in a protest on november 5. november 5 was the day johannes mehserle was sentenced. now, this is video from that

night. what you're seeing in this video is a group of people -- you can see their hand are tie behind their backs. they're people represented in this lawsuit. the lawsuit said the particular group of protestors were walking towards the fruitvale b.a.r.t. station and stopped by police on sixth avenue. police told the crowd to disburse and when they did not, the 150 people were detain and brought into police custody. now, the people filing this class-action lawsuit file in federal court this morninged said that mass arrest was unlawful. the lawsuit said the group was not being violent or destructive and shouldn't have been arrested for assembling peacefully. the lawsuit said this group of protestors couldn't have disbursed if they wanted because police encircled the crowd. now, that same night of the mass arrests, there were protests in other parts of the city that result with vandalism, fires, and bus with broken windows. again, the 150 plaintiffs in the lawsuit said they were not a part of that commotion. >> even if they were, if somebody, you know, if somebody

did vandalism a few block from here, i would hope all of us wouldn't get arrested, right. that's not the system of law that -- the kind of law enforcement we expect in the united states. >> reporter: now, the suit was file in federal court this morning, excuse me. attorneys filed it today on purpose to coincide with the release of johannes mehserle. contacted oakland police and city attorneys but the oakland city attorney's office has not received copy of the lawsuit yet so it's their policy they can't comment or respond yet. reporting live in oakland, ktvu, channel 2 news. >> thank you, alley. stay with ktvu for coverage of the release. you can get updates on ktvu.com. and you can also watch the jailhouse interview mehserle did last year. just click on the tab near the top of the front page. a few hours ago, the u.s. district court began hearing arguments involving same-sex marriage. the focus is whether to

overturn a judge's decision to strike down proposition 8 because that judge is gay. ktuv's kraig devereaux explains why one side may have a hard time. >> reporter: legal experts on both sides of the political spectrum say the argument doesn't have much of a challenge chance of succeeding. opponents gathered outside the federal courthouse to rally against this latest court challenge. california voters approved prop 8 in november 2008. since then, there have been multiple challenges. last month, a judge all but killed proposition 8. judge walker said it violated the wall protection laws of the constitution but six months later, as he readied to retire, judge walker mentioned he is gay. proponents of prop 8 seize on the that and filed a motion to vacate the judge's decision,

saying it would benefit walker as a gay man waiting to be married. >> proponents lost the trial and they're trying to turn this into putting the judge on trial. it's not gonna work. there's no reason why we all shouldn't have equal marriage rights in california. >> reporter: according to at least one published report, he made no secret of his orientation and attended event with his partner. a top ethics lawyer under george w. bush, the administration that wanted a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages, said it's considered as credible the argument that judge walker should have to recuse himself because he is gay and we're just hearing now the decision -- whether or not to vacate judge walker's decision -- could be made in the next 24 hours. in san francisco, kraig debro, ktvu news. >> thank you, kraig.

fog created a headache for flights schedule to arrive at san francisco international airport. the faa issued ground stop, halting all flights schedule to leave los angeles, seattle, albuquerque, salt lake city, or denver and arrive at sfo with the fog clearing by late morning. the faa hoped to lift the ground stop but said to expect delays of at least 30 minutes the rest of the day. the only departing flights were those that depended on aircraft arriving from those other western airplanes. a study calls for improvements to crosswalks. six month after a toddler was hit and kill in roanoke park. the 2-year-old die and her mother was severely injure end a car hit them as they crossed snyder lane last december. the driver of the car was texting when it happened. tomorrow, the city council will review a study of traffic and pedestrian safety. it recommends a set of improvement that include new crosswalks and street lights.

a bicyclist who crashed into a center median in san francisco one week ago has died. police said they don't know what caused 38-year-old gregory wise to mitt the median near dewey boulevard last monday morning. a website set up in his memory said a memorial service will be held next sunday. just ahead, the sudden bankruptcy of a popular restaurant chain. which outlet in the bay area closed. and new information on the crash of a vintage world war ii plane and what happened to the people on board. also in the bay area, temperatures heating up fast. rosemary will tell you how much and how fast. >> we're people who dream big when times are tough, especially when times are tough. ♪ what the president had to say a couple of hours ago about creating more jobs.

a world war ii fighter plane crash land in a corn field outside of chicago this morning. there were seven people on board but everyone got out safely. only one person reported minor injuries. the pilot had reported a fire and was returning to the airport but obviously didn't make it. the plane was being used to help celebrate the anniversary of d-day by offering rides to the public for around $400.

a couple of hours ago, president obama asked americans to be patient as they wait for the economy to recover. at a stage in durham, north carolina, mr. obama said it took years for the problems to develop and will take years to get back to where we need to be. the president said that's particularly true for jobs. >> these challenges predated, uh, the -- financial crisis that we had in 2008. if you look at what had happened between 2001 and, uh, 2008, job growth was slow, e slept when the economy was growing at a pretty good clip. >> with unemployment above 9%, many political pundits said mr. obama could be vulnerable in next year's election. governor brown said there will be a budget vote on wednesday. that is the constitutional deadline for lawmakers to get a balanced budget on his desk. in a statement on youtube, the governor said he's frustrated he's not able to get the four republican votes need to put

the question of tax extensions on a special election ballot. >> i'm not asking the legislature to make all these decisions. i'm asking for a vote of the people. >> democrats are trying to avoid having to close the remaining $9.6 billion budget deficit with spending cuts alone. a bankruptcy filing this morning by the owner of the marine callendar's chain explains bizarre turn of events yesterday. several franchises closed without warning in the middle of the afternoon, including concord and walnut creek. managers were ordered to shut down, even while customers were eating. other closures include santa rosa, napa, hayward, and sandra mono. in all, 65 perkins and marie callendar's were close canned nationwide out of 600 restaurants. the owner filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy to deal with debt. wendy's is selling most of

its stake in arby's. arby's is struggling and wendy's tried to sell at the beginning of the year. a private equity group will pay $130 million cash for almost 80% of arby's. a traffic problem. just south of highway 24 in lafayette -- a car hit a pole by 4:00 this morning. by the afternoon, only five customers were without power. planes are closed between happy valley road and almito road. pg&e expecting to be done and roads open by 4:00 this afternoon. fire season starts today in part of the bay area. the santa clara unit of cal fire will declare the beginning of fire season in contra costa, alameda, and santa clara counties. burn permits will not be allowed because of the fire danger and more firefighters will be staffed. firefighter in arizona see signs of hope over the weekend.

containment on the wallow fire doubled to 10%. however, the fire is still out of control. it's burned 444,000 acres and destroyed 29 homes. some evacuees were allowed to return home over the weekend. good afternoon to you. a live look at the bay bridge in san francisco. you can see the low clouds off the coast. the re of us are dealing with mostly blue skies and temperatures warmer than yesterday. this is going to be a trend we see for the next couple of days. look at what is happening outside. 60 in san francisco, 63 oakland. most of the bay area has temperatures 2 to 3 degrees warmer but we go inland where we see widespread 70s at this time from 5 to 10 degrees warmer than in san rafeal, concord, livermore. temperatures will continue to climb into the afternoon. the satellite view shows you what is happening. we have a ridge from the pacific that will continue to climb our afternoon highs today and tomorrow and will continue to squash that marine layer.

i will show you what is happening in the afternoon. looks like by about 2:00, even cooling off the coastline, only a few hours before we see it move back in along the coast. tomorrow we wake up with less dense, less widespread and by -- looks like tuesday at 6:00 a.m -- over the coast. we've got it over parts of the bay and by tuesday morning, 8:00 or 9:00 a.m., most of us could be with mostly sunny skies. we continue with this june-like pattern into the afternoon. low clouds along the coast, peaks of sunshine for the second half of the afternoon. the bay area, mostly sunny, a little warmer. inland areas, very much warmer today and especially tomorrow when we could see a few 90s in and around the area. 82 expected for santa rosa this afternoon, napa. 72 oakland. 67 san francisco. 62 pacifica. our temperatures seasonal for this time of year and will even go above that by tomorrow. 82 for pleasanton this

afternoon. 78 san jose. a nice-looking day. mountain view, redwood city and san mateo, mid-to-upper 70s. 64 degrees at half moon bay. the extended forecast here -- the work week is not bad at all. inland areas, upper 80s, approaching the 90-degree mark in many cases. 60s for the bay area and coast. on wednesday, a little cooler, especially for the coastline and then thursday, friday, into the weekend, a little cooling trend. it's not bad at all but we will start that around thursday, sit in the low 60s to carry through sunday and temperatures for the inland areas, upper 70s, low 80s. >> this seems more seasonal. >> definitely more june-like. >> exactly. this is actually the last full week of spring, right? >> right. >> starting summer next week. all right, thank you, rosemary. >> you're welcome. the sailboat in the america's cup race will literally be testing the waters starting this afternoon. two 45-foot catamaranned owned by oracle racing will have

high-speed races. this video from friday shows you it's not easy out there with the wind and the waves. they will take place between 1:00 and 3:30 p.m. the best viewing spots are san francisco's maria, aquatic park, and pier 39. the fallen hero celebrity golf tournament is underway at the diablo country club near danville. proceeds will benefit the families of police officers and firefighters kill in the line of duty. this year, the event is timely. last friday, thousands honored the lives of two san francisco firefighters. i'll be emceeing the fundraiser tonight but earlier this morning i spoke to keynote speaker trooper bobby e. smith. >> we took an oath to protect and serve and take that very seriously. when we have one of our brothers or sister who do fall in -- or kill in the line of duty -- it breaks our heart because that is a brother or sister of ours, just like our own blood. >> smith was work as a state trooper in louisiana in 1986 when he was shot in the face

and blinded during a routine traffic stop. he served as an inspiration for police and firefighters around the country. the cal baseball team continues their cinderella story. this was going to be their last season due to budget cuts but after enough funds were raised, they were reinstate and are going to the college world series. >> down to their final out -- and that's a liner! long liner! caught! by campbell! it counts! that is it! heading to omaha! >> excited guys. they beat dallas 6-2 to advance to omaha, nebraska. the home run in the 1st got the bears started. this is cal's first appearance in a college world series in 19 years. college world series begins on saturday. a loud and enthusiastic crowd greeted glass mavericks when they returned home as nba champions. fans cheered as the players got off the team plane at love field in dallas, waves trophies. jason kid, who starred at u.c. berkeley and st. joseph high

school in alameda. this is his first championship after 17 year in the nba and also the mavericks' first nba championship when they beat the favored heat 4-2. who was the winner at last night's tony awards. ñw?

taking a live look at the big board, a new round of corporate deals nudging stock indexes higher after six weeks of losses. concerns over greece's debt is

leaving some to the safety of government bond. the dow currently is up 18, still below 12,000. nasdaq up 4. nasdaq also up 4 -- s&p up 4. people in christchurch, najibullah zazi najibullah zazi, are recovering 24 hours after a dead laertes quake. [ yelling ] >> the quakes hit within an hour of each other in february 37181 people were killed when a 6.3 quake hit christchurch. >> a musical that took broadway by storm was the big winner at this year's tony awards. >> is the winner is -- the book of mormon! wow! >> the book of mormon from the creators of south park won best musical and best director. best play went to the puppet drama "war horse." tonight at 5:00, a school

project gone awry. a middle school student and his teacherer in trouble with the law over a prop the student was using to make a movie. that story and more coming up in our next newscast. ktvu channel 2 news at 5:00. thank you for watching. have a great day.