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A vigil for Damon Grimes in 2017. (Photo: WDIV video)
Former state trooper Mark Bessner has been convicted of involuntary manslaughter for chasing and tasing a Detroit teen who fatally crashed his ATV into a parked car.
A jury found Bessner not guilty of a more weighty second-degree murder charge in the death of 15-year-old Damon Grimes. Still, a spokesman for the family tells The Detroit News they're "somewhat satisfied" with the outcome. Spokesman Oliver Gantt says the family wants to see Bessner get jail time as a "sense of justice."
He'll be sentenced May 2.
The encounter that killed Grimes occurred on Detroit's east side in August 2017.
From trial coverage by The News:
Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Matthew Penney told jurors that Bessner and his partner were not justified in chasing Grimes because he was not a threat to them and all he was doing was riding his ATV in the city of Detroit.
Penney said in his closing arguments that Bessner possibly didn't like ATVs being driven in the city, referring to another incident in which the trooper allegedly chased ATVs riders on Fort Street near downtown Detroit.
Gantt said he feels that incident swayed the jury and showed Bessner to be a "voracious Taser" user.
Convertino said Bessner believed he was facing a threat from Grimes when the teen appeared to be driving toward the troopers' scout car. Convertino also told jurors that his client was following the state police's department's Use of Force Continuum when he deployed his Taser on Grimes.
