This is the Oakland Local Archive. Please visit our current site at http://oaklandlocal.com.
Login has been disabled on the archive.

BART awards Oscar Grant's daughter $1.5 million.

Published on Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Last updated on 10:29AM, Monday, February 1, 2010
Oscar Grant's daughter, Tatiana, at a memorial on January 1st. Photo by Nijla Mumin

Oscar Grant's daughter, Tatiana, at a memorial on January 1st. Photo by Nijla Mumin

Late Wednesday evening Bay Area Rapid Transit announce that it had struck an deal to pay the mother of Oscar Grant's daughter Tatiana $1.5 million.

Grant was killed on January 1st on the platform of the Fruitvale BART Station and former BART officer Johannes Mehserle is being charged with the death.

The settlement is for the $50 million lawsuit filed by the family of Grant and Oakland attorney John Burris.

“No matter what anyone’s opinion of the case may be, the sad fact remains this incident has left Tatiana without a father. The $1.5 million settlement will provide financial support for her." BART Board President James Fang said in a statement.

The first hearing in the Mehserle case began in Los Angeles on January 8th with a heavy turn out by protesters. The trial is expected to begin in May.

On Monday, January 25th, a bill in favor of increased citizen oversight of the BART Police passed the assembly. The bill will establish an Office of Independent Police Auditor to increase police accountability and aid in the search for a new BART chief of police.

About Oakland Local editorial team
The Oakland Local Editorial Team is made up of Juan Martinez, Jeannine Etter, Michelle Fitzhugh-Craig, Eric Arnold, Jennifer Inez Ward, CB Smith-Dahl, Susan Mernit, Debi Mason, and others.
boadicaea commented at Sun, 31 Jan at 10:33pm

The latest is that the BART board will fight the award by trying to spread the blame to Oscar Grant's friends and their contribution to his death.

Yes, you read that right.  Their lawyers are going to go after Grant's friends to get a ruling that they share blame (as they lay there on the concrete of the Fruitvale platform) for Johannes Mehserle pulling his gun and shooting Grant in the back.  And therefore should help BART pay Grant's daughter the $1.5 m.

The only hair of a connection I can imagine is that because they were partying together, BART will try to prove that Grant would have stayed home with his daughter instead of ending up shot in the back on the Fruitvale platform, if not for the friends that forced him to go out on New Year's Eve. 

How did the BART legal eagles come up with such a morally bereft and long-reach of a strategy?  For $1.5m?  I guess it must be the "principle" of the thing, right?

The next BART board meeting is on February 11.

Kwan Booth commented at Mon, 1 Feb at 9:09pm

Thanks for the update Cynthia.  In my opinion, you're right, that reasoning does sound a little thin.

There's another update on the case here: 

 http://oaklandlocal.com/blogs/2010/01/blaming-oscar’s-friends-his-death-shameful-will-not-be-tolerated-opinion

There are folks preparing for the next BART Board meeting on February 11th.