FAMILY FILES LAWSUIT IN DEATH OF BOY

The family of Alberto Sepulveda filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday in Fresno
seeking unspecified monetary damages for the Sept. 13 shooting death of the
11-year-old Modesto boy during a drug raid at his home.

Named as defendants in the lawsuit are the city of Modesto; SWAT officer
David Hawn, who fired the shot that killed the boy; and three other
officers. The names of those officers were not available Wednesday.

The family's attorneys said other defendants could be added to the lawsuit
later, after they get more details about what happened during the drug raid.

The early morning raid on the Sepulveda home was part of a countywide
effort involving federal, state and local police agencies.

Members of the Modesto Police Department Special Weapons and Tactics team
led federal agents into the Sepulveda home. Moises Sepulveda Sr., the dead
boy's father, was arrested and later charged with conspiracy to distribute
methamphetamine.

Sepulveda, who was released on bail, is scheduled to return to a Fresno
courtroom Jan. 29 for a pretrial hearing.

San Francisco attorneys Arturo J. Gonzalez and Robert Y. Chan are
representing the Sepulveda family in the lawsuit.

Merced attorney John A. Garcia is representing Moises Sepulveda in the
separate criminal case.

Gonzalez and Chan recently represented the family of Ramon Gallardo Sr., a
64-year-old farmworker shot 15 times and killed in a botched July 1997 SWAT
raid in Dinuba.

A federal jury in Fresno eventually awarded the Gallardo family $12.5
million in damages. That amount was overturned on appeal, however, and the
family settled the case earlier this year for about $6 million.

"We were hoping never to see another case like (the one in Dinuba),"
Gonzalez said. "Unfortunately, too many police departments deploy SWAT
teams when they are not necessary.

"Breaking into a family's home with guns drawn should be an absolute last
resort. These Rambo tactics endanger the lives of innocent families and
also place the officers' lives in danger."

Last week, Modesto Police Chief Roy Wasden presented a summary of his
department's four-month investigation into the shooting death of the boy.
Police determined that Hawn's gun discharged accidentally.

At a press conference last week, Gonzalez said the Wasden report does not
go far enough -- a point he emphasized again Wednesday.

"We don't have a police report, we don't have the officers' statements and
we don't have the information that was given to the SWAT team members
before the raid," Gonzalez said.

"We appreciate the information given to us by Chief Wasden last week, but
that information raised more questions than it answered."