'WRONG HOUSE' RAID COSTS COUNTY $325K

The couple baby-sitting their grandchildren when police mistook their
home for a drug dealer's residence has been awarded a $325,000
settlement, their attorney said yesterday.

Police had been tracking a package that allegedly contained 11 pounds
of marijuana that had been picked up at the Koloa post office by a
man who was driving a Toyota truck on March 15, 2005, according to
court documents.

Though police followed the car onto Kaumuali'i Highway and onto a
private road with seven houses, when the transmitter inside the box
went off indicating the package had been opened, police had lost
visual contact with the vehicle.

That's when, without a warrant authorizing entrance into the home of
William and Sharon McCulley, but rather with an "anticipatory search
warrant" that authorized them to search any property where the
marijuana was transported, police entered their home.

Though the Toyota truck they had been following and the transported
box wasn't at the McCulley's home, police then threw Sharon McCulley
on the ground next to her grandchild and handcuffed her, pressing a
gun so hard into her head it left a circular mark, according to the complaint.

Her husband, William McCulley, who has a severe nerve disorder and
has a walker and leg brace, was also ordered to lie on the ground,
but was unable to do so quickly because of his disability. Thrown to
the ground by an officer, William McCulley's implanted electronic
shocking device to alleviate pain malfunctioned causing him to
convulse, court documents state.

Attorneys Michael Green and John Rapp said in addition to the pain
and suffering the McCulleys endured, their privacy rights were violated.

In addition, they alleged that police not only failed to ensure they
were entering the right home authorized by the warrant, but also
committed assault and battery, trespassing, and negligently inflicted
serious emotional distress upon the McCulleys. According to court
records, the box that was picked up at the Koloa post office by David
Hibbitt, who drove away in a Toyota truck, was in a home about two
houses down from the 'Oma'o residence inhabited by the McCulleys.

The three residents of that home, including Hibbitt, who pleaded
guilty to first-degree promotion of a detrimental drug, were arrested
on drug-related charges in the case.

Rapp said though the settlement doesn't allocate a specific amount
for each portion of the claim, he did say the grandchildren also
suffered trauma from the incident.

"It was as though the bad guys were coming in after them," he said.
"It was very frightening to them."

Rapp said looking forward, he thinks future similar incidents can be
easily avoided.

"When the officers lost sight of this marijuana package, they should
have called off the search," he said.

Rapp added that he thought Capt. Ale Quibilan was forthcoming in
trying to assess what went wrong and trying to help prevent it from
happening again.

"More preparation, more training, having the most qualified doing the
job," he said.