From [HERE] A jury in Prince George’s County awarded $11.5 million to the widow and child of a man who was fatally shot by a police officer and found that the officer wrongfully caused the man’s death.

The jury also found that Cpl. Steven Jackson violated the consitutional rights of Manuel de Jesus Espina during an encounter in a Langley Park apartment building in August 2008. Jackson acted with malice and not in self defense, the jury found. The $11.5 million award is for compensatory damages. The jury is still deliberating about whether Espina’s family is entitled to punitive damages.

The money awarded to relatives of Manuel de Jesus Espina is believed to be the largest jury verdict in a case involving misconduct by a Prince George’s police officer, vet­eran civil rights lawyers said.

Espina, 43, was shot by Cpl. Steven Jackson in a Langley Park apartment building in August 2008, when Jackson was moonlighting as a security guard.

The jury of five women and one man found that Jackson intentionally violated Espina’s constitutional rights, that he acted with malice, that he did not act in self-defense, and that he assaulted and battered Espina before wrongfully killing him. Jackson pepper-sprayed Espina and beat him with his fists and a metal police baton before shooting him, according to court testimony and evidence. Jurors deliberated for 31 / 2 days.