JUDGES CUT DAMAGES IN DISTRICT POLICE CASE

A federal appeals court yesterday struck down a $98.1 million judgment
against the District government in the case of a police informant who was
slain while attempting to assist D.C. homicide detectives, preserving only
$1.1 million in damages.

The ruling was a huge victory for D.C. officials, who had warned in court
papers that a decision upholding the damages could jeopardize the city's
financial stability. The jury verdict was the largest judgment against the
D.C. government, more than four times the previous record of $24.2 million
set in a medical malpractice case in 1998.

But in a 42-page ruling, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit of the
U.S. Court of Appeals unanimously held that much of the judgment had no
legal foundation.

The informant, Eric Butera, 31, was robbed and beaten to death in December
1997 by three men as he tried to make an undercover drug buy at a Southwest
Washington row house. Police set up the operation in hopes of developing
information about the July 1997 killings of three people at a Starbucks
coffee shop in Northwest Washington. But when Butera was attacked, no
police officer was in sight. Police didn't realize he was in trouble until
40 minutes later, when a neighborhood resident called 911.

Butera's mother, Terry Butera, filed suit in U.S. District Court against
the D.C. police department and the four officers who worked with her son,
alleging civil rights violations and negligence. The jury returned its
verdict after a two-week trial in October 1999, ordering the District and
the officers to pay $70,530,000 in compensatory damages and an additional
$27,570,000 in punitive damages. The trial judge, June L. Green, also ruled
that the District must pay almost $700,000 of Terry Butera's legal fees.

The appellate panel found that the police officers were entitled to
immunity in the civil rights claim made on behalf of Eric Butera,
eliminating $36 million of the judgment. The judges rejected Terry Butera's
civil rights claim, which was based upon her right to her son's
companionship. Because he was an independent adult, the judges said, Terry
Butera could not properly stake that claim, which generated $34 million.

The judges also threw out $27 million in punitive damages assessed against
the D.C. government, finding that D.C. law shields the District from such
damages.

That left just two parts of the judgment intact: $530,000 awarded on
negligence claims, and $570,000 in punitive damages levied against the four
officers. The rejection of the civil rights claims takes the District off
the hook for the legal bills, attorneys said.

The court's opinion was written by Judge Judith W. Rogers. Chief Judge
Harry T. Edwards and Judge Merrick B. Garland joined in the ruling.

"This was a tragic thing that happened to Eric Butera," said D.C.
Corporation Counsel Robert R. Rigsby. "However, we are profoundly grateful
to the Court of Appeals for taking a look at this case. We're happy with
the way the ruling came out."

Rigsby said the D.C. government would cover the damages levied against the
officers. He praised the work done by the city's trial attorneys, as well
as an appellate team led by former corporation counsel Charles F. C. Ruff.
Ruff, a senior partner at the D.C. law firm of Covington & Burling, worked
on the appellate briefs and argued the case before the panel. He died Nov.
19, at age 61, after a heart attack.

Andrew H. Friedman, a senior partner at Covington & Burling, said the
appellate ruling "reflects the common-sense advocacy skills Chuck Ruff
brought to bear in the case. It is a fair result for the city that Chuck
cared so much about, and everyone at Covington & Burling is proud of Chuck
and the firm lawyers who worked with him."

Peter C. Grenier, an attorney for Terry Butera, did not return telephone
messages left at his office. He could attempt to reinstate the judgment by
asking the entire appellate court to hear the case or by seeking a Supreme
Court review.

Eric Butera, who was trying to overcome a history of drug abuse, had gone
to police with what appeared to be a viable tip about the Starbucks
killings. He said he had overheard people in the row house talking about
the slayings when he bought drugs there during the summer. Police gave
Butera $80 in marked money and sent him back to the house to buy crack
cocaine, hoping that they could later get a warrant to search the house for
Starbucks-related evidence. But they set no time limit on the operation,
didn't keep a constant watch on Butera and didn't equip him with electronic
surveillance gear.

Butera never got into the house. He was attacked and beaten by three men
with no connection to the killings, authorities said. Another man later was
arrested and convicted of the Starbucks killings. He had no ties to the row
house.

The civil rights claim filed on behalf of Eric Butera contended that he had
a constitutional right to be protected by D.C. police while working with
them. The appellate judges said that the officers were entitled to immunity
because the law on that issue is evolving, with courts issuing conflicting
rulings on the question.