From: KRON 4
By Brian Shields 7/1/14
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Former BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle won’t have to pay any monetary damages to the father of BART rider Oscar Grant.
A federal jury in San Francisco ruled Oscar Grant Jr. is entitled to no monetary damages in the death of his son who was shot and killed at the Fruitvale BART station early on New Year’s Morning 2009.
The elder Grant had argued in court that Mehserle, who was convicted of Involuntary Manslaughter in the shooting, should have to pay for “loss of familial relationship.”
However Grant Jr. was in prison for much of his son’s life after his own conviction on murder charges.
“The jury took into account the fact that Oscar Grant’s death was accidental and that his biological father had a limited relationship with his son and therefore was not entitled to monetary damages,” Mehserle’s defense lawyer Mike Rains said in a written statement.
Mehserle had testified that he shot and killed Grant by mistake because he meant to use his taser instead of his firearm.
The shooting prompted massive protests and was the inspiration for the film “Fruitvale.”
