Family appeals ruling finding officer not liable in teen's shooting

ATLANTA — Channel 2 Action News has obtained video testimony of a deputy saying another police officer shot a teen in the back of the head by accident.

The teen and his family shared what they’ve been through for the first time with Channel 2’s Craig Lucie.

DeAnthony Cunningham’s medical bills have already topped more than a million dollars. Cunningham has gone through more than nine surgeries with more in his future.

“When I first went to Shepherd, I had a dent and was missing the left side of my cranium. I had to wear a helmet,” said Cunningham.

In several pictures, you can see Cunningham recovering from a brain injury after a Fulton County police officer said he accidentally shot him in the back of head.

“I got a cane. I was just 16 when it happened. I just turned 19,” said Cunningham.

Cunningham says he doesn't remember what happened three years ago, on July 29, 2011. According to police, he was a passenger in a stolen car that a friend was driving. An officer confronted them at a Union City gas station parking lot; Cunningham ran and Officer Benjamin Griggs found him in the woods behind the station.

“There's no dispute he was not resisting. He was on his knees. His hands were up, and his hands were clearly visibly when he was shot. It wasn't an intentional shooting,” said Craig Jones, who is Cunningham’s attorney.

In a video deposition, Griggs explains what happened in this exchange. When an attorney asked him if he accidentally pulled the trigger Griggs said, “Yes, I shouldn’t have had my finger on the trigger.”

In another video deposition, Fulton County Sheriff’s Deputy Henry Handler explains what he saw before the shot was fired.

“He slowly stepped up, and I saw the right side of him and I saw his hands like this and then he got down on his knee,” said Handler.

A recent ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals found Officer Griggs was not liable.

Cunningham’s father, Tony Speight, called the ruling “unbelievable.”

“He chose the job and trained for the job. It’s not an accident to me. You know not to have your finger on the trigger. I want my son to be taken care of for the rest of his life,” said Speight.

Jones explained his interpretation of the ruling by the appellate judges.

“What the court basically said is if an officer violates a firearm safety rule that he was trained in, then he doesn't have any liability for it, and that's crazy,” said Jones.

Lucie reached out to the Fulton County Police Department and its spokesperson said, "Due to this matter still being in litigation, the police department will make no statements at this time."

DeAnthony Cunningham told Lucie that he's never met Griggs, and his father says no one came to visit him in the hospital.

“I wouldn't say nothing to him. I'm not mad at him. I'm not dead. I'm breathing,” said Cunningham.

Cunningham has occupational and speech therapy three to five times a week.

Jones has filed a petition for the full 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to see if the case will go to a jury trial.

WSBTV