No Justice, No Peace for Oscar Grant Dad
Oscar Grant Jr, father of Oscar Grant III who was shot down and killed by a transit police officer, Johannes Mehserle, in 2009, lost a civil suit he filed seeking monetary damages as a result of his son’s murder.
I am sure you are wondering why, well I would suggest its because he, himself is incarcerated for murder and has been incarcerated all of his son’s life so, in an insane way many can justify not seeing him fit to receive monetary rewards.
The defense attorney’s convincingly spin to the jury was that he was not around to be considered a father in his son’s life. Well, that may be true socially, but the fact still remains that Oscar Grant Jr is the biological father of Oscar Grant III, what stronger evidence do you need to show a “familial relationship.” Chile Pleeze! this is as bad as not giving us our 40 acres and a mule even though we are clearly entitled to it!!!!
“He’s a parent,” McCoy told reporters outside court. “He just lost his son. He lost his son and under the 14th Amendment, he has a right to collect damages for someone depriving him of a familial relationship.”
Grant Jr. had claimed that Mehserle’s intentional shooting of his son deprived him of a previous existing relationship which involved deep attachments and commitments to one another, and the sharing of special community of thoughts, experiences and beliefs.
the only problem with this statement CLB family is that Grant Jr. was sentenced to prison for first degree murder in 1985, before the birth of his son.
Now Mr. Grant Jr, testified that he and his son shared a deep bond, and he expected to strengthen their relationship if he were to have been granted parole.
But Mehserle’s defense attorney tried to show that father and son were not quite so close. During cross-examination, Grant Jr. was peppered with questions about the young man’s life. Did he know the name of his son’s school? What high school sports did his son play, if any? Where did he work?
The elder Grant said that he and his son had plans for when he was paroled: sports games, barbecues, family reunions, and quiet times with Grant III’s daughter Tatiana, now nearly 10. Grant Jr. said he filed the lawsuit out of a respect for his son, because he wants to help take care of Tatiana, and because he wants the chance to pay restitution for his own crimes.
“I’ve already paid for my crime, I’d like to give back to the community,” said Grant Jr., who according to a trial brief filed by his lawyer expects to be paroled in the next couple years after four prior denials by the state parole board.
Grant Jr. became combative when Rains questioned the depth of his relationship with his son by asking if he knew the names of the schools Grant III attended, whether he played high school sports, knew his daughter’s birthday, his friend’s names, or whether he had a job or a cell phone. Grant Jr. could not answer many of the questions, and Rains was quick to point out any answers that differed from those Grant Jr. gave during a 2010 deposition.
If Grant Jr. was so eager to get out of prison to be with his son, Rains asked, why did he keep getting in trouble in prison for offenses like drug possession over the years?
“What does my prison record have to do with your officer killing my son, shooting my son in the back?” Grant Jr. asked angrily.
Grant Jr. said Grant III last visited him in prison in 2002. He last spoke to his son three days before his Jan. 1, 2009 death.
“I told him, if you decide you wanna drink, don’t drive your car. Catch the bus or ride the BART,” Grant Jr. said.
Earlier in the day, jurors heard testimony from Terry Foreman, Mehserle’s support officer after the shooting, who described how Mehserle’s first child was born on the same day Grant III was killed.
“I took a life and I brought a life into this world,” Foreman quoted a distraught Mehserle saying at the hospital.
Grant Jr. testified that he doesn’t have anything against Mehserle personally, but the former officer has not acknowledged him or apologized to him at the trial. Mehserle has not been in attendance since he testified the first week.
“All I (have) to look at is memories, while he be running around talking about his brand-new son. He can kick it with his son, while I can’t,” Grant Jr. said.
“I loved my son to death, like any other father who loves their son,” he said. “I miss my son. I miss the opportunities.”
BART has previously approved a settlement with the mother of Grant III’s young daughter, Tatiana, in January 2010 for $1.5 million and a settlement with his mother, Wanda Johnson, for $1.3 million. BART also has awarded $175,000 to Grant III’s five friends.
No awards were or will be made by BART to Grant, Jr. who remains in prison.
I know some of you are may be thinking, “He just trying to get over, or dead beat Dad” and I can’t say that did not cross my mind either, but that does not justify the fact that he has direct familial ties to Grant and should too be paid damages. Your thoughts
[socialpoll id=”2209444″]
