From: [c--ri--w] at [hbbs.mcs.com] (clarinews)
Newsgroups: alt.drugs
Subject: Feds To Pay For Shooting Man
Date: 25 Mar 94 15:24:40 CST

From: [c--i--s] at [clarinet.com] (AP)
Newsgroups: clari.local.california,clari.news.law.drugs,clari.news.issues.civil_rights,clari.news.law.police
Subject: Feds To Pay For Shooting Man
Date: Thu, 3 Mar 94 7:50:21 PST

	SAN DIEGO (AP) -- The government has apologized and taken
responsibility for shooting a homeowner wrongly suspected of being
a drug dealer.
	Donald L. Carlson, 42, was critically wounded early on Aug. 26,
1992, when federal drug agents took a battering ram to the front
door of his suburban home while others stormed the back door under
cover of a concussion grenade.
	There was an exchange of gunfire, as a startled Carlson used a
gun he kept at home. He was shot in the chest, arm and leg.
	``It is now abundantly clear that Mr. Carlson was wholly
innocent,'' U.S. Attorney Alan D. Bersin said in a statement. ``The
system did fail. ... We must be accountable to Mr. Carlson for the
awful consequences visited upon him.''
	Bersin said the government has admitted liability in a $20
million civil lawsuit filed by Carlson and would try to reach a
settlement.
	Agents from the U.S. Customs Service and Drug Enforcement
Administration blamed the raid that turned up no drugs on an
unreliable informant, who has since been charged with providing
information leading to two bad raids.
	Carlson's attorney, Jerry Coughlan declined to comment in detail
because of settlement negotiations.
	``I agree with one thing for sure, that the government is
liable,'' he said.