WASATCH SHERIFF'S OFFICE SETTLES SUIT OVER SEIZURE

Ronald R. Molina and the Wasatch County Sheriff's Office have settled
their dispute out of court over a home seizure for an undisclosed
amount. The stipulation agreement, certified by the court Friday,
closes the case. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, Denver, ruled in
1999 that a jury should decide whether officials went too far when
they seized Molina's Heber City home for more than three weeks.

In September 1994, following an undercover drug probe, Wasatch County
law enforcement officers knocked down the door of Molina's home and
arrested him and his brother.

Investigators found drug paraphernalia but no narcotics. Still,
Molina and his brother were charged with drug-related offenses.
Prosecutors offered to dismiss the charges against Molina if he moved
out of Utah and agreed not to sue the county.

Molina rejected the offer but the charges against him were dismissed
anyway. Molina then filed a civil lawsuit against sheriff's
officials. A U.S. District Court judge dismissed that lawsuit in
1998. The appellate court found that the judge correctly ruled the
search and arrest were valid and that the county had not conspired
against Molina. But the court remanded the case back to U.S. District
Court on the seizure issue.