FAMILY OF OSAWATOMIE MAN KILLED IN BOTCHED DRUG RAID SETTLES LAWSUIT

The family of an Osawatomie, Kan., man who was killed in a botched
1999 drug raid has settled a wrongful-death lawsuit for $3.5 million.

The defendants -- Miami County, Osawatomie and Paola -- did not admit
wrongdoing in the settlement, which will pay Willie Heard's widow,
three children and three grandchildren $2.4 million after legal fees
and expenses.

The agreement was filed March 9 in U.S. District Court in Kansas
City, Kan., after several officials privately told Heard's family
that they regretted his death, said John Kurtz, the family's attorney.

"I can't say that across the board everybody ended up feeling great
about everything that happened, because it is a huge scar," Kurtz
said Wednesday. "...But there was a movement toward an appreciation
of each other's predicament."

Officials expressed regret about Heard's death, Kurtz said, and
Heard's family understood the stress that the officers who took part
in the raid would have faced if the lawsuit had gone to trial.

Officials from Miami County, Osawatomie and Paola either declined to
discuss the settlement or did not return phone calls Wednesday.
Heard's wife and children, who now live in Missouri, did not want to
talk to a reporter, Kurtz said.

Heard, 46, was shot early Feb. 13, 1999, hours after police told a
judge that an informant had bought cocaine at a house on his block.
In its lawsuit, the Heard family said police confused a neighbor's
house with the one where Heard, his wife, Linda Heard, and their
daughter Ashley Heard were sleeping.

A joint task force of sheriff's deputies and officers from Osawatomie
and Paola returned to the block with a search warrant, set off a
flash-bang device to distract their targets and rushed into the
Heards' house about 1:25 a.m.

Heard was shot in his bedroom 11 seconds into the raid after he
grabbed an unloaded rifle, officials said. His family has said that
Heard woke when the officers ran into his house and that he grabbed
the rifle before he knew what was happening. In the lawsuit, the
family said officers did not agree whether Heard was pointing the
rifle at anyone.

Immediately after Heard was shot, officers shouted for plastic wrap
from the kitchen to try to stop his bleeding. An ambulance arrived
about four minutes later and took Heard to a hospital, where he was
pronounced dead.

Police later searched the house and found what appeared to be the
residue of a burned plant -- too little to test, the lawsuit said --
but no cocaine.

Miami County Attorney David Miller said several weeks later that the
officer who shot Heard had fired in self-defense and committed no
crime.

Heard's family filed its lawsuit in April 2000.

The settlement was reached shortly after someone who was involved in
the raid apologized in a meeting with Heard's family, Kurtz said.

"It was very heartfelt and was received as heartfelt by the family,"
Kurtz said. "And it made a lot of difference. I mean a lot."