OAKLAND TO PAY IN 2 POLICE MISCONDUCT CASES

OAKLAND -- The city of Oakland agreed Tuesday to pay $900,000 to
resolve two separate police misconduct cases.

The city will pay $550,000 to a boy, identified only as L.S., who
sued the city after he was shot in the back by Oakland police Officer
Alan Leal in the backyard of a home on the 900 block of 107th Avenue
in East Oakland in July 2007.

Police said the 15-year-old appeared to have put drugs in his mouth,
run away, discarded a gun and was shot while apparently reaching for
his waistband.

"We recognize that at some point, he was armed with a gun, but it was
pretty clear that he did not have a gun at the time he was shot,"
said the teen's attorney, John Burris. "It's tragic that this young
man was shot in the back and will have permanent scars."

L.S. admitted in Juvenile Court to a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest.

Barbara Parker, an assistant city attorney, said L.S. has undergone
five surgeries and incurred $440,000 in medical costs.

In a separate case, the city agreed to pay $350,000 in attorney's
fees over a suit in which officers were accused of unlawfully
searching a home on the 1000 block of 55th Street where marijuana was
being grown in September 2008. A federal jury awarded plaintiffs
Novender Fleming and Victor Jones $37,500 last year.