FAMILY CAN'T SUE FOR BIAS REST OF SUIT IN TEEN'S DEATH CAN BE AMENDED.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

VAN NUYS - A judge ruled Wednesday that the mother of the 13-year-old Juniper Intermediate School student killed in a fistfight with a classmate cannot sue the Palmdale School District for racial discrimination.

Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Michael Farrell also ruled that other portions of Mary Corson's $10 million wrongful-death lawsuit against the district were insufficient but allowed the family's attorney to file an amended complaint.

``This will be the fourth time (the Corson family attorney) is trying to place a viable complaint on file,'' said Martin Carpenter, an attorney for the school district.

In other developments, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department on Wednesday handed over investigators' reports regarding the Nov. 19, 1999, fight between Stephan Corson and the other boy.

Farrell had previously granted the school district's motion requesting copies of the investigation records.

Melanie Lomax, attorney for the Corson family, could not be reached Wednesday for comment.

The case was transferred to the Van Nuys court after Lomax argued that Antelope Valley jurors might be tainted by pretrial publicity.

Stephan Corson's death was ruled a homicide by the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office, which said the boy died from damage to his spinal cord caused either by a punch thrown by the classmate or from hitting the ground with his chin.

Prosecutors declined last April to file charges against the 14-year-old classmate, saying he acted in self-defense in what was termed an ``excusable homicide.''

In their report, prosecutors said 11 witnesses said Stephan started the fight, and that a teacher told investigators that after she separated the boys, Stephan reached around her and punched the other boy, who then struck back. Stephan fell, hitting his head on a concrete surface, the report said.

Other witnesses and the boy's family have disputed that account.

In Wednesday's action, Farrell granted a demurrer filed by the school district that objected to the lawsuit and said the plaintiff failed to state a legal or factual basis.

``The court sustained all of the demurrers, three of which were sustained without leave to amend, those causes of action being the ones that deal with allegations that there was racial tension between the boys, racial slurs used by the other boy, or discrimination on the part of the school district,'' Carpenter said.

``The other four causes of action were sustained with leave to amend. Those deal with general allegations of negligence against the school district,'' Carpenter said.