1.7 MILLION AWARDED TO MEN SHOT AT HOTEL IN ALLEGED DRUG DEAL

MIAMI, Nov. 25 - Two men who police suspect were shot in a drug deal gone
bad have won a $1.7 million jury verdict against Ramada Inn for failing to
provide security that the men claim would have prevented the shooting.

Jerry Woods, 53, of Detroit, and Eddie Talley, 58, of Columbus, Ga., sued
Ramada for negligence after the December 1995 shooting at a Ramada parking
lot in Hialeah.

The hotel's attorney and police say the verdict was preposterous but not
surprising. The trial judge had excluded any evidence about the alleged
drug deal on the grounds it could have unfairly tainted the case.

"The jury heard half the story," making the two men look like innocent
victims, said Ramada's attorney, George Fernandez, who plans to appeal the
Nov. 3 verdict.

The plaintiffs' attorney said the verdict would have been the same with or
without the potentially incriminating evidence.

The plaintiffs and a friend had fled after the shooting and did not
cooperate with police, who said they found a duffel bag with $38,000 in
small bills and an electronic scale in the friend's van. The shooters were
never found