Family of man killed by Austin police officer heads to civil court

AUSTIN -- More than two years after 20-year-old Byron Carter, Jr. was shot by an Austin police officer, his family is headed back to court. This time it's for a civil case against the City of Austin. The family hopes a judge will find that the officer used excessive force when he shot and killed Carter during what police believe to be an attempted car theft. A grand jury declined to indict Officer Nathan Wagner on criminal charges early last year, but Carter's family believes justice was not served. They say Officer Wagner was wrong to shoot because Carter was not armed. Wagner and his partner were on bike patrol the night of the shooting in May of 2011, near 8th Street and Interstate 35. They were on a special anti-burglary initiative when they say they saw Carter and his friend looking into cars like they were trying to steal them. According to police, the men got into a car and when the officers approached, the driver struck one of the officers with the car in an attempt to get away. That's when Officer Wagner fired his gun four times and hit Carter as he sat in the passenger seat. One of those bullets struck Carter in the back of the head and killed him. Wagner has been cleared criminally. A grand jury heard from 30 witnesses and looked at charges including murder, manslaughter and homicide. They decided not to move forward with any of them. Investigations by the FBI, the Austin Police Department, as well as the department's Internal Affairs Division all cleared Wagner as well. The officer was placed on paid administrative leave, but was later reinstated. At the time of the shooting he had been with the Austin Police Department for three and a half years. Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo will likely testify in this civil case. He's just one of the high profile witnesses expected to be called to the stand in the next few days. Attorneys for Carter's family tell KVUE they plan to call Police Monitor Margo Fraiser and City Manager Marc Ott to testify as well. Jury selection begins Monday morning at 9 a.m.