From: clarinews #0 @clarinet.com (AP) Internet
Re: Feds Admit Shooting Homeowner
 
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From: clarinews@clarinet.com (AP)
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Subject: Feds Admit Shooting Homeowner
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Date: Thu, 3 Mar 94 6:40:09 PST
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	SAN DIEGO (AP) -- The government has taken responsibility for
shooting an innocent homeowner wrongly suspected of being a drug
dealer. How much it will pay for the mistake must still be decided.
	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.
	``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.''
	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 arrested on charges he
provided false leading to two raids.
	Carlson was shot in the chest, arm and leg, suffering lasting
damage to his respiratory system, arm and shoulder, said his lawyer
Jerry Coughlan.
	Carlson is suing for $20 million. A hearing is scheduled for
March 14. Bersin said the government would try to settle the case.
If a settlement is not reached, the lawsuit is scheduled for trial
Sept. 6.
	Coughlan declined to comment in detail because of settlement
negotiations.
	``I agree with one thing for sure, that the government is
liable,'' Coughlan said.

