FAMILY OF BOY TO GET $2.55M

Modesto 11-Year-Old Was Killed In Drug Raid.

The family of an 11-year-old Modesto boy killed in his home during a
narcotics sweep has settled a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city and
several of its police officers for $2.55 million. The total is in addition
to the $450,000 settlement the family will receive from the federal
government for the boy's death.

San Francisco lawyer Arturo J. Gonzalez, who represented the family of
Alberto Sepulveda, said Wednesday that the $3 million total settlement is
believed to be the largest paid by government for the wrongful death of a
child.

The boy's father, Moises Sepulveda, still faces criminal charges in
connection with the raid in September 2000 on the family home in which his
son was shot in the back while following an officer's orders to lie face
down on the floor.

Gonzalez said that the family "is still struggling" with the boy's loss. In
addition, Moises Sepulveda's mother died Wednesday, the day the settlement
was completed.

Moises Sepulveda was the target of a raid conducted at 6:30 a.m. Sept. 13,
2000, as part of a federal drug sweep with help from Modesto police.

A contingent of six officers, dressed in full SWAT gear, including masks,
approached the Sepulveda home and broke down the front door. No drugs or
weapons were found, Gonzalez said.

Federal drug agents reportedly had tape-recorded telephone calls of
Sepulveda and Manuel Ruelas, the alleged leader of a
methamphetamine-distribution ring, before the raid.

Gonzalez said he hopes the federal government will drop its criminal
charges against Sepulveda. The case is set for trial Sept. 17.

"If ever a guy needed a break, it's this man," Gonzalez said.

A formal announcement of the settlement is scheduled today in federal court
in Fresno before U.S. District Judge Anthony W. Ishii. A trial had been
scheduled to begin July 23.

A four-month investigation into the Sepulveda boy's shooting by the Police
Department determined that an officer's gun discharged accidentally,
killing the youth. The family's lawsuit named the city and officer David
Hawn, who fired the fatal shot, as well as several other officers.

Gonzalez said the settlement includes "significant changes" to Modesto's
police policies "that will prevent a similar tragedy from recurring."

He said SWAT officers will refrain from pointing a firearm at any
individual who is complying with directions from law enforcement and not
displaying threatening behavior.

San Francisco lawyer Gregory M. Fox, who represents Modesto in the case,
said he believes the case was settled in a way that can make law
enforcement better in California.

"A lot of questions were asked, and a lot were answered," Fox said, " and
this was settled in a way that hopefully this young child did not die in vain."

In the past, Fox said, local police agencies worked readily and without
question with federal investigations, but now critical questions will be
asked and he believes the new Modesto policy should be a model for other
local agencies.

A cross-complaint by the city of Modesto against the FBI and Drug
Enforcement Administration will be dropped as part of the settlement, Fox said.

The settlement comes five months after the agreement was reached with the
federal government for $450,000. That settlement also includes $100,000 for
each of the two surviving Sepulveda children, minus $25,000 each for legal
fees.

Gonzalez said the $2.55 million also includes legal fees.

Two weeks ago, lawyers representing the family and the city were in daylong
negotiations overseen by U.S. Magistrate Judge Dennis L. Beck, but the
final settlement was not reached until this week.

Gonzalez and lawyer Robert Y. Chan, who filed the lawsuit against Modesto,
are the same legal team that won a $12.5 million jury verdict for a Dinuba
family after 64-year-old Ramon Gallardo Sr. was shot as many as 15 times
during a police raid in July 1997. That case was appealed and later settled
for $6 million.

In 1993, they also represented four women who were subjected to an unlawful
body-cavity strip search after attending a meeting of the Dinuba School
Board. A federal jury returned a verdict of $1.45 million, which remains
the largest verdict ever in an unlawful strip search case, Gonzalez said.