On Monday afternoon, a San Diego Superior Court judge sentenced 24-year-old Walt Mehran to 12 years in prison for the Dec. 2, 2023, attempted murder of Eric Van Tine.
The two men, both struggling with mental illness and drug addiction, had been placed in a cell with a third man at San Diego’s Central Jail – even though state regulators had repeatedly told the Sheriff’s Office to stop the practice of triple-bunking.
The close quarters triggered a fight between Van Tine and Mehran, who beat Van Tine until he was unconscious. The 41-year-old suffered severe brain damage and spent four months in a coma…