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Fatal raid settled for $6m
Dinuba family's award against police
may set state record.
fresnobee.com
The Fresno Bee
By Jerry Bier
The Fresno Bee
(Published March 31, 2000)
The family of a Dinuba man gunned down by police in a failed SWAT
raid nearly three years ago agreed to a $6 million settlement with the
city Thursday, ending an ongoing legal battle.
Arturo J. Gonzalez, one of the lawyers who represented the family, said
the settlement accomplishes everything the family set out to do after
Ramon Gallardo Sr. was killed.
"We prov-ed that the entry into the Gallardo home was
unconstitutional and we proved that arresting Mrs. Carmen Gallardo and
her family was unconstitutional," Gonzalez said.
"Dinuba no longer has a SWAT team and we have obtained a record
award. There is nothing more to prove. Justice has prevailed."
The settlement by the family of Ramon Gallardo Sr. is believed to be the
largest ever against law enforcement in California.
By comparison, a Los Angeles civil jury awarded Rodney King $3.8 million
in connection with a 1991 beating by police officers.
Gallardo, 64, was shot 13 to 15 times during a police raid on the family
home in Dinuba in July 1997 while officers served a search warrant
looking for a weapon reportedly used in an attempted murder in Visalia.
No such weapon was found in the Gallardo home.
Rosemary McGuire, one of the lawyers who represented the city and the
police officers, said in a separate interview Thursday that the
settlement includes damages for the family and all legal fees.
"I think it's been a difficult case for the plaintiffs and the
defendants, and I can only assume everyone is relieved that it's
over," McGuire said.
Police had said Gallardo armed himself with a knife when officers,
wearing camouflage uniforms, hoods and masks, entered the home about 7
a.m. July 11, 1997.
But Gonzalez, as he had argued to the jury, told reporters at a news
conference that no fingerprints ever were found on the pocketknife
police said Gallardo held and Gonzalez suspected it was planted by the
officers.
The search warrant was based on a statement by an informant who said he
had sold the weapon to one of the Gallardo sons. He reportedly later
recanted the statement.
After the shooting, officers took Carmen Gallardo and members of her
family to police headquarters and held them there for hours before
releasing them.
Gonzalez said the family remains upset that officer Jon Reineccius, who
fired the fatal shots, remains on the Dinuba police force and never has
been disciplined.
Lawyer notes jurors' race
A jury awarded the Gallardo family $12.5 million a year ago this month,
but the total was later reduced to $7.5 million by U.S. District Judge
Oliver W. Wanger.
The judge upheld a $5 million award to Gallardo's widow and $175,000 to
each of his 13 children, but concluded that the jury's additional $5
million award to the estate was excessive.
The city appealed the verdict and that process was continuing when the
settlement was reached.
Gonzalez noted that seven of the eight jurors on the civil jury that
heard the federal court case were white.
"I say that because there are some people who believe that a
Mexican-American family cannot obtain justice in Fresno and that that
they cannot obtain justice from white jurors," Gonzalez said.
"And that's simply not true. And this case helped prove that."
Although the family did not attend the news conference they did issue
statements through Gonzalez.
Carmen Gallardo said she remains devastated by the loss of her husband,
but "living with the tragedy is a little bit easier knowing the
judge and the jury ruled in our favor. I pray that this does not happen
to any other family."
Settlement sends message
Rudy Gallardo, a son, said the loss still hurts. "I think of my
father all of the time," he said. "Maybe this settlement will
help to prevent another family from having to suffer the way we
have."
Robert Y. Chan, who served as co-counsel for the Gallardo family, said
he hopes the decision sends a message to police departments "to
re-evaluate their procedures and make sure they are in compliance with
the law. And to respect the limits imposed by the Constitution."
Gonzalez declined to say how much of the $6 million settlement will go
toward lawyer's fees, but said the portion for his firm, Morrison &
Foerster of San Francisco, will be placed in an account that funds
public interest cases such as the Gallardos'.
Wanger had awarded a total of $930,000 in legal fees and costs.
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