SAN FRANCISCO – A jury has rejected a civil rights lawsuit filed by the father of an unarmed man who was shot and killed by a transit officer at a San Francisco Bay Area train station.
The jury returned its verdict on Tuesday, awarding no damages to Oscar Grant's father in his suit against former Bay Area Rapid Transit officer Johannes Mehserle and the transit agency.
Jurors found there were no deep family ties between Oscar Grant and the father, who was in prison at the time of the shooting and remains behind bars.
The shooting on New Year's Day 2009 occurred as authorities were responding to a chaotic scene on the Fruitvale station platform in Oakland. It sparked racial tension because Mehserle is white and the 22-year-old Grant was black.
Mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2010 and served a year in jail.
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