SF Pride Shooting Case Settled

The nonprofit organization that runs San Francisco's annual LGBT Pride parade and festival this week settled a lawsuit with a man who had sued it after he was shot at the June 2013 celebration.

Trevor Gardner, 25, of Los Angeles, had claimed that the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee's lax security led to him being shot in the leg after a brawl broke out nearby that year. SF Pride officials said through an attorney that they had worked hard to secure the event and the shooting was "a random act of violence."

Gardner had sought millions of dollars from festival organizers. Previous settlement talks had failed, and the trial had gotten underway last week in San Francisco Superior Court.

Tuesday, after jury selection had been bungled, attorneys in the case agreed to settle. Reached by phone, they wouldn't discuss details of the deal, citing the confidentiality of the agreement.

Asked why the case had settled, Ryan Lapine, Gardner's attorney, would only say "because there was a settlement that was agreed to by the parties."

Lapine wouldn't say how much money Gardner would receive, or which party took the lead in reaching the settlement.

Last week, Lapine suggested to prospective jurors that the hundreds of thousands of people who attend the annual SF Pride festival should have to go through metal detectors and have their bags checked.

In a call Tuesday, he said, "It goes without saying I hope that security at the event conforms to industry standards and that there are no shootings in future years."

Gardner, "a trained gymnast," had been working as a model at the Tropicana Las Vegas booth June 30, 2013 when a "brawl" erupted nearby, resulting in Gardner being shot in the leg, Lapine said.

Maria Caruana, SF Pride's attorney, said Tuesday, "I'd love to speak with you," but "a couple of days ago, the court actually ordered that we not speak with the press about this case any further."

Gardner consistently appeared in the courthouse with no obvious injuries, but Lapine said his client had continued to experience pain, and his ability to work is limited. He also said that Gardner hadn't been seeking punitive damages, but funds for medical expenses and other costs.

Gardner couldn't be reached Tuesday for comment.

George Ridgely, SF Pride's executive director, didn't respond to messages from the Bay Area Reporter.

The trial, which had been expected to take at least five weeks, had already seen delays.

A jury had been selected last week but a mistrial was declared after an error was discovered in the juror questionnaire, according to court documents. A new jury was supposed to be selected this week. Lapine said the settlement wasn't related to the mishap.

Gardner has also sued Tropicana over the shooting incident. The status of that case wasn't immediately clear Tuesday.

Eric Ryan, who was also shot in the 2013 incident at Pride, has also filed a lawsuit against SF Pride. Ryan's case is set for a case management conference in January.

Lapine criticized a story in the B.A.R. November 12 edition about the trial. That story said that he had referred to some violent incidents that have been associated with SF Pride but weren't directly related to the event. For example, the story said, he'd alluded to the 2010 killing of Stephen Powell, 19, at the end of the Pink Saturday celebration in the Castro.

Pink Saturday was for decades organized by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a nonprofit unrelated to SF Pride. The Sisters opted not to produce the party this year, citing concerns over years of violence.

Lapine said that he'd actually been referring to a different shooting that took place that year, within the Pride celebration's footprint. It wasn't immediately clear what incident he was talking about, and he declined to provide more details.

He also insisted that shootings from other years that he'd mentioned in court took place at the event.