Posted on 06/20/2002 4:30:17 PM PDT by Wolfie
Boy's death costs Modesto $2.55M
Modesto will pay $2.55 million to the family of Alberto Sepulveda, the 11-year-old boy who was accidentally shot and killed during a September 2000 drug raid.
Police Chief Roy Wasden also agreed to change department procedures -- at the request of the Sepulveda family -- to prevent accidental shootings in the future.
Those changes include written policies directing officers:
Not to point their guns at someone who complies with police orders.
Not to take witnesses to the police station without their consent.
Not to take children to the police station without first advising their parents.
Sepulveda family attorney Arturo Gonzalez, in a written statement released Wednesday afternoon, called the changes significant.
Wasden, however, said officers have followed those procedures in the past, even though they were not written policies.
"For myself and the department," Wasden said at a Wednesday news conference, "this has been a difficult ordeal to go through. But what we experienced isn't a fraction of what the family went through.
"I'm sorry this happened, and the department is sorry this happened."
The settlement, expected to be approved this morning by a federal judge in Fresno, will end the family's wrongful death lawsuit against the city. Jury selection had been scheduled to begin July 23.
Neither family members nor Gonzalez attended the Wednesday news conference. They are expected to speak with reporters today.
The boy's mother, Sonia Sepulveda, spoke briefly Wednesday at the family's Highway Village home.
Standing in the front doorway, she clutched the worn card of her attorney in one hand. Her other hand came to rest, from time to time, on a pendant holding a rose-tinted picture of Alberto.
Tears welled in Sepulveda's eyes. She said the pendant was a gift from her mother-in-law, who died Wednesday morning in Riverbank.
Overwhelmed by the news of her mother-in-law's death and the announcement of the lawsuit settlement, Sepulveda said she had nothing more to say.
Her son was killed when a shotgun -- held by officer David Hawn of the Police Department's Special Weapons and Tactics team -- discharged as the boy lay face down on his bedroom floor.
Hawn and other Modesto SWAT officers were assisting federal drug agents in an arrest and search targeting Alberto's father, Moises Sepulveda Sr. The search was part of a coordinated predawn raid at 14 homes in Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties.
Later, the elder Sepulveda was charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. He is awaiting a September trial in U.S. District Court in Fresno.
Reports call it 'tragic accident'
In recent weeks, Gonzalez said he wanted the city to lobby federal authorities to drop the drug charge against Sepulveda.
City officials refused, however, and said Wednesday that the lawyer's request was not part of the settlement agreement.
Investigations by the Police Department, the Stanislaus County district attorney's office and the state attorney general's office cleared Hawn of any criminal wrongdoing in what officials called a "tragic accident."
Wasden, however, said his investigation uncovered a number of issues that needed to be addressed, including communication problems between the department and federal authorities.
"I've taken the necessary steps to address this communications issue by establishing a new policy for the review of requests for the use of our department's SWAT team," Wasden said, "and for the use of any (police) personnel at the request of any outside agency."
The shooting also was the catalyst for a statewide commission set up to examine SWAT policies and procedures. That panel should make its report in the next few weeks.
Councilmen express sympathy
City Council members met in closed session Tuesday to sign off on the settlement. There was no disagreement to the proposed deal, Councilmen Bruce Froh-man and Denny Jackman said.
"I feel very sorry for the family, very sorry this happened," Frohman said, "and very sorry for the police officers involved. The whole story was a sad one, just a tragedy."
Frohman said there was no council resistance to the family's demands for changes in police procedure. "We agreed that their requests were reasonable."
Added Jackman: "I'm sure we would all go back and redo the past so the boy would not be harmed, but we are where we are. I hope this provides some closure for everyone involved."
Councilman Will O'Bryant, a retired Alameda County sheriff's deputy, said: "My heart naturally goes out the family of this boy. But with my background in law enforcement, it also goes out to the officer and his family because they suffer, too. This officer will relive this thing. So you have more than one victim.
"There is never any closure on an incident like this, "but I'm glad to see it's settled so people can get on with things."
Fed settlement $450,000
Earlier this year, the federal government agreed to pay the Sepulveda family $450,000 for the federal role in the shooting. A city lawsuit against the government was dismissed.
Gonzalez said he believes the $3 million-plus total for the settlement is the most money ever paid by government entities in the wrongful death of a child.
Attorney Greg Fox, representing the city, said he was not sure about that claim but called the settlement a significant amount of money.
"It reflects the fact that a child died," said Fox, who attended the news conference with City Attorney Michael Milich. "Both sides recognized that the death of Alberto was a tragedy that called for accountability by the city and the department."
Milich said the city's insurance will cover all but $500,000 of the settlement. He said the half-million dollars would be drawn from the city's insurance reserves and would have no effect on the city's budget.
Wasden said the department will continue to take steps to ensure that such a tragedy never happens again.
"I think it is important for the public at large and especially the citizens of Modesto to realize that the men and women of the Modesto Police Department are committed to performing their law enforcement functions to the highest professional standards," he said.
"That was the case prior to and in the wake of this tragic incident. Because of this incident, we are a better police department and even more committed to the service of our community."
No it didn't. It cost the TAXPAYERS $2.55 Million. Not one single "law enforcement agent", either municipal or federal, paid a RED CENT out of their pocket. No personal responsibility, insurance company paid.
Boonie Rat
MACV SOCOM, PhuBai/Hue '65-'66
That's an easy choice.
The "War On Drugs" is not worth shotgunning a kid lying face down on the floor.
Wait a minute. If I accidentally shoot someone and they die, I go to jail for negligence. If a cop does it they get off the hook. This stinks. I learned early on not to point shotguns at anyone, so if there was an accidental discharge it isn't likely to accidentally kill someone. And this cop just happened to be pointing it at a kid laying face down on the floor? Gross negligence! The guy ought to be punished and not "cleared"!
Also, if this were an accidental shooting of a kid by a civilian, there would be hell to pay.
The lesson learned here is: If the cops are going to shoot you anyway (without a warrant, and having committed any crime), then it is time to start taking these rogue cops down, as soon as they enter your property.
Use a shotgun and aim for the head.
1. Until the dad is convicted, he's presumed innocent.
2. The boy was not a suspect, regardless of others in the house. He, of all, probably had the least choice of domicile.
3. Street grade, consumer/grammaw/plainJoe gun safety classes, at least those familiar with NRA and other similar disciplines, start classes with DON'T PUT YOUR FINGER ON THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOU HAVE SIGHTED AND MADE THE DECISION TO DESTROY WHAT'S IN YOUR SIGHTS!
We can find tons of "what if" questions, including if the cop had recently studied gun safety, but IMHO any thing is extraneous except that decision, conscious, subconscious, dreams of promotion, Dirty Harry worship, to put a finger on that trigger.
I may be obsolete, but I've never made that shooters mistake, and I haven't had to bury my children.
I wouldn't share a range with this guy for Bill Gate's money.
For God's sake, can't I just scroll a single thread without someone saying something completely stupid?
You think maybe "this could have been prevented" if the LEO wasn't a total brain dead, under-trained moron who had no business being there in the first place?
The friggin' dumbass already had "accidentally" shot a dead person in the past, yet they did nothing as they're doing nothing to the schmuck now.
THE WAR ON DRUGS!!!! (fade in patriotic music....enter a kick line of nude chorus girls and midgets)
Thus my emotional response.
To try to lighten a horrible subject, let's offer two retroactive choices:
1. The cops parents had used specific birth control, or
2. The cop had a passion for caligraphy and was a monk in Ireland copying old manuscripts.
Either way...............life is not fair.
I am in total agreement with you, but where did you read or hear this piece of news? Did I miss something in the original article?
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