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Johannes Mehserle, right, appeares in the East Fork Justice Court on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2009, in Minden, Nev. Mehserle is being held on charges related to the New Year's day shooting of an unarmed man on an Oakland, Calif., train platform. Mehserle, 27, waived extradition to California early Wednesday during a brief court appearance in Minden, Nev., and was being held without bail on a warrant charging homicide. Douglas County Sheriff's Deputy Ron Mills is at left. (AP Photo/Cathleen Allison)
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The attorney for Johannes Mehserle, the former BART police officer charged with murder stemming from a shooting on New Year's Day, entered a not guilty plea for his client in an Oakland courtroom Thursday.

Attorney Christopher Miller entered the plea in front of a packed courtroom with extra security. In a red Santa Rita Jail jumpsuit, Mehserle, who could barely be seen behind a protective clear encasing, waived his right to a quick preliminary hearing.

Miller then asked Alameda County Superior Court Judge Robert McGuiness for a bail hearing, which was set for Jan. 26 in Oakland. Mehserle was arrested on a no-bail warrant, and no bail has been set.

The full courtroom included Mehserle's friends and family and those of Oscar Grant III, the man Mehserle is accused of killing Jan. 1 on the Fruitvale BART platform. Sheriff's deputies carefully let different groups into the courtroom separately to avoid any problems with heightened tensions.

The hearing, which lasted less than five minutes, was never disrupted.

Alameda County sheriff's Sgt. J.D. Nelson said Mehserle is being held in protective custody at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. He has his own cell and no interaction with the jail's general population.

"We would do that for any high-profile case," Nelson said.

Mehserle, a Lafayette resident, was arrested late Tuesday night in Nevada, near Lake Tahoe, after a warrant had been issued charging him with Grant's murder. On

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Wednesday, Mehserle, 27, waived extradition to California during a brief court appearance and was brought back to the Bay Area.

Grant's killing has set off flames of anger in the Bay Area, with rioting Jan. 7 in Oakland and more sporadic problems Wednesday night after a large rally downtown.

Many in the community have voiced outrage after seeing video footage that seems to show the former officer shooting Grant in the back as the 22-year-old was facedown on the ground at the Fruitvale BART station.

Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff said his office decided to charge Mehserle with murder because there is evidence of an unlawful, intentional killing.

Mehserle refused to be interviewed by either BART investigators or Orloff's office after the incident.

Reach Chris Metinko at 510-763-5418 or cmetinko@bayareanewsgroup.com.