The family of a Fort Bragg officer shot and killed during a Special Forces training exercise in February 2002 has settled a civil lawsuit against a former deputy and the Moore County Sheriff's Office.

U.S. District Judge William Osteen Jr. announced Tuesday that the estate of Lt. Tallas Tomeny settled its claims against the Sheriff's Office and former Deputy Randall Butler. The terms were not disclosed.

The settlement comes as a jury was being selected in Federal District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina in Greensboro.

The lawsuit alleges that Butler was reckless and negligent when he shot Tomeny and Sgt. Stephen Phelps, who survived. They were taking part in a two-week Special Forces training exercise called Robin Sage. The incident occurred in the parking lot of a church near Robbins.

The trial is continuing on Phelps' claims. The jury was impaneled, and opening arguments in the case will begin this morning.

Butler was cleared of wrongdoing by the Army, the State Bureau of Investigation and the district attorney's office. Tomeny's estate and Phelps filed the federal civil rights lawsuit in 2004.

The case is unusual, as Osteen often said last week as he discussed motions offered by each side to limit what opponents will be allowed to offer in evidence and how the trial will proceed. On Friday, he denied a motion by Butler's and Sheriff Lane Carter's defense team that would have split the trial into two segments. The defense wanted the question of Butler's qualified immunity settled first. Osteen's decision means the trial will go forward as one.

A second case, brought by Butler against the federal government, seeking $5 million in damages, is set for trial in January. Butler is now chief deputy in Lee County.

This current trial will ask this jury to decide whether to believe Butler, Phelps, or Charles Leiber, a civilian role-player who was driving the pickup truck carrying Tomeny and Phelps the morning they were shot. All three of their accounts differ to one degree or another, especially on the question of whether Butler used excessive force.

Robin Sage has been carried out in Moore and other North Carolina counties for over 40 years, but Butler was from Lee County and says he had never heard of it. He thought his life in imminent danger from armed men who intended to kill him, according to documents filed with the court.

The two soldiers thought Butler the deputy was "in on the game" and just another law officer helping out in training and playing a role in a scenario as deputies in other counties often do. Leiber, their civilian driver, never thought to explain to Butler about Robin Sage when the deputy stopped his green pickup that cold February day in 2002. He says he thought Butler was playing a role just as he was.

Contact John Chappell at (910) 783-5841 or by e-mail at jchappell@thepilot.com.