Jury Deadlocks in Keith Washington's Civil Trial

A civil jury deadlocked yesterday over whether a former Prince George's County official should be ordered to pay damages for fatally shooting one furniture deliveryman and wounding another two years ago in his Accokeek home, for which he is serving a prison sentence.

A county criminal jury convicted Keith A. Washington, 47, of involuntary manslaughter and other offenses last year. The former top county homeland security official and police corporal was sentenced to 45 years.

Three of the five jurors in the civil case concluded that Washington, as he has claimed, acted in self-defense, a juror said later. The plaintiffs plan to bring the case again.

Robert White, now 38, who survived the shooting, and the parents of Brandon D. Clark, 22, who was killed, filed a lawsuit against Washington and the county seeking more than $300 million in damages.

Yesterday afternoon, Circuit Court Judge Sean D. Wallace declared a mistrial after the civil jury sent him its third note saying it was deadlocked. Jurors deliberated for about nine hours.

Before Wallace declared the mistrial, Associate County Attorney Mary Crawford said in court that jurors were unable to resolve the issue of whether Washington was acting in self-defense. Wallace instructed the jury to continue deliberating. About two hours later, the jury sent out the third note.

"We were putting ourselves in Mr. Washington's position," said one juror, who declined to provide her name because she said she wanted to maintain her privacy. She was among those who believed Washington was acting in self-defense. "He was defending himself, his home and his family."

The evidence in the civil trial was almost identical to the evidence presented in the criminal trial. Jurors in the civil trial were not told that Washington had been convicted.

At both trials, Washington testified that he shot Clark and White because the two much larger men were beating him and he feared for his life. Also at both trials, White testified that Washington became enraged while he and Clark were trying to exchange a set of bed rails, and opened fire without provocation.

In the civil trial, Daniel Karp, the attorney for Washington and his family, aggressively attacked White's credibility.

During cross-examination, White was unable to answer how long he had been working with Clark as a furniture deliveryman, Karp said. White was also unable to estimate how big Clark was, even though Clark was his cousin, Karp said.

White testified that he had left a previous job at a thrift store of his own accord. Karp said he confronted him with records showing that White had been fired from that job.