Civil Suit Filed in Fatal Shooting by Officer

Relatives of an unarmed man who was fatally shot inside a Langley Park apartment by a Prince George's County police corporal have filed a lawsuit alleging that the officer pepper-sprayed and beat the man, Manuel de Jesus Espina, then shot him even though he was not resisting.

In the moments before Cpl. Steven Jackson, working off duty as a security guard, fired a single fatal bullet Aug. 16, 2008, Espina's son dropped to his knees and pleaded with the officer not to hurt his father, the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit, filed last week in Circuit Court in Upper Marlboro against the officer and county, seeks more than $40 million in compensatory and punitive damages. In the meantime, Prince George's prosecutors in recent weeks have presented evidence regarding Jackson's actions to a county grand jury, according to three sources familiar with the probe. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because grand jury proceedings are secret.

Jackson is restricted to an administrative job away from the public pending the outcome of the criminal investigation by the state's attorney's office as well as an internal police inquiry. Jackson did not return a phone call Tuesday, nor did his defense attorney.

Maj. Andy Ellis, a police spokesman, declined to comment on the lawsuit or the grand jury investigation. John Erzen, a county spokesman, said he could not comment on pending litigation.

"This really was a coldblooded killing by this officer," said Timothy F. Maloney, the Greenbelt attorney representing the Espina family in the civil case.

Jackson was moonlighting as a security guard at an apartment complex when he encountered Espina, 43, and his son, Manuel de Jesus Espina Jacome, then 26.

Initially, police charged Espina Jacome with second-degree assault for allegedly fighting with Jackson. Those charges were dropped.

A witness told an investigator with Espina Jacome's defense team that the encounter began when Jackson saw Espina with a beer in or near the front of the apartment building and chased him up the stairwell.

Espina and Jackson ended up in a basement apartment occupied by friends of Espina's. The lawsuit alleges that Jackson dragged Espina into the apartment, hitting him in the face and torso with his fists and police-issued retractable baton.

Espina Jacome saw his father being beaten and, fearing for his life, entered the apartment through a window, the lawsuit says. When Espina Jacome asked Jackson to stop hitting his father, the officer replied, "Shut the [expletive] up," according to the lawsuit.

In the days immediately after the shooting, police provided various accounts of the events leading to it.

On the day of the shooting, police said Jackson fired after Espina had reached for the officer's gun. The same day, a police commander said Jackson alleged that the two Espinas tried to pull him into the apartment. The next day, police issued a news release that said Jackson feared for his life when Espina reached for his baton.

The lawsuit alleges that Jackson has engaged in a pattern of brutalizing and violating the civil rights of Hispanics and others.

Police have completed their investigation of an unrelated incident in which Jackson accused a motorist of slugging and tackling him during a traffic stop. A police video showed Jackson hit and tackled the motorist, who did not throw a punch or tackle Jackson. The findings of that investigation will be sent to a civilian complaint review panel, Ellis said.