Marin slaying case against rapper opens

1995-11-03 04:00:00 PDT MARIN COUNTY -- SAN RAFAEL - Rap star, shooting victim and ex-convict Tupac Shakur has been ordered to appear in Marin County Superior Court Friday for the opening phase of a wrongful death suit alleging that Shakur and his half-brother are behind the August 1992 slaying of a 6-year-old Marin City boy.

The parents of Qa'id Walker-Teal, gunned down during a crowded celebration of Marin City's 50th anniversary, are seeking unspecified damages from Shakur and his half-brother, Maurice Harding. Young Qa'id died from a bullet fired during a melee between members of Shakur's entourage and a group of Marin City residents.

Although the fatal slug was matched by police to a .38-caliber pistol registered to Shakur, and Harding was initially arrested on suspicion of firing the weapon, no charges were filed. Marin County prosecutors have said they were stymied by a lack of witnesses.

District Attorney Edward Berberian said Thursday that a murder trial requires the defendant's guilt to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, while in a civil case jurors need only agree that the accused probably committed the offense.

It's uncertain whether Shakur will make his Friday court date. He has a history of failing to appear in connection with other legal tangles in recent years. He already has been fined $8,000 for not appearing at earlier hearings on the case.

Jury selection began Wednesday and was scheduled to continue Friday afternoon. Opening statements might not be heard until Monday.

The trial was scheduled to begin more than a year ago, but was delayed when the victim's mother, Ocita Teal of Marin City, and father, Darrell Walker, of Texas, fired their Marin County attorney and retained the services of a large San Francisco law firm.

Shakur, 24, lived briefly in Marin City as a youth. He now makes his home in Atlanta. Harding lives in Oakland.

The suit against Shakur and Harding also named the Sausalito School District, Marin City Community Development Corp. and Marin City Community Services District as co-defendants. They have since settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. One source placed the figure at $150,000.

Though Shakur's attorney, Dennis Cunningham, said last year that his client was broke, Shakur recently posted $1.4 million bail to secure his release from Clinton State Prison in New York, where he served eight months of a 1-1/4-to-4-1/4-year sentence for sexually abusing a woman in a hotel room.

During his trial, the rapper was shot five times in a robbery outside a recording studio. He was not severely wounded.<