In 1994, 14-year-old Michael Soe removed his father’s loaded Beretta Model 92 pistol from an unlocked camera bag. Ignoring his father’s training and his previous experience showing off the gun, Soe did not pull back the gun’s slide to check the chamber to see if it was empty before firing it at his fifteen-year-old friend, Griffin Dix, killing him with a bullet to the heart.
So naturally, the parents sued Beretta.
The jury deadlocked 6-6; an earlier jury exonerated Beretta, but the verdict was overturned because a court found juror misconduct because jurors complained that they were bullied by a juror who thought the parents were responsible. The parents say they will try again, and a new trial date will be set January 2. (Charles Burress, “Mistrial in Berkeley teen gun suit”, San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 24; Glenn Chapman, “Gun case declared a mistrial due to hung jury”, Oakland Tribune, Dec. 24; Glenn Chapman, “Jurors get Beretta handgun safety case”, Oakland Tribune, Dec. 16; Brian Anderson, “Father of accidentally slain boy finds new hope”, Contra Costa Times, Dec. 5). (Update: Brenda Sandburg, “Third Trial Likely in Suit Against Beretta”, The Recorder, Dec. 29).
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