MARYLAND OFFICER WON'T FACE CHARGES

Undercover Move Left N.O. Native Dead

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Justice Department will not file criminal civil
rights charges against an undercover police officer who followed and then
fatally shot an unarmed New Orleans native in Virginia last September, the
agency said Friday.

Acting Assistant Attorney General William Yeomans called the death of
Prince Jones "a terrible tragedy," but said the Sept. 1 shooting did not
warrant prosecution of the officer.

"Our thorough investigation did not reveal evidence that established that
the police officer intended to use more force than he believed was
reasonable under the circumstances," Yeomans said.

Jones was shot five times in what investigators believe was a case of
mistaken identity.

An undercover officer from Prince Georges County, Md., just north of the
District of Columbia, trailed Jones for several miles in an unmarked car,
saying he believed him to be a drug suspect who had tried to run over a
policeman. The surreptitious pursuit in the early morning darkness took
them from Maryland through the district and into the northern Virginia
community of Fairfax, where Jones was headed to meet his fiancee.

Jones apparently noticed he was being followed, and less than a mile before
reaching his fiancee's home, he stopped and confronted his pursuer. The
plain-clothes detective said he flashed a badge and ordered Jones back into
the car. Police said Jones then rammed the officer's vehicle. The officer
fired 16 shots, striking Jones five times.

The Justice Department inquiry said that Jones may not have realized his
pursuer was a police officer, lending credence to the family's claim that
he was acting out of fear for his life. But it also suggested that the
officer, despite following the wrong man, was acting to defend his own life
when Jones rammed his vehicle. It concluded that "mistake, fear or bad
judgment is not sufficient to establish a willful violation."

Ted Williams, an attorney for the Jones family, said he expected the
Justice Department's decision and insisted it wouldn't hurt the $145
million wrongful death lawsuit he has filed in federal court in Washington.
A Virginia state prosecutor earlier had decided not to press criminal
charges, saying that the officer acted in self-defense.

"We clearly believe that Prince Jones was murdered and we will be
successful in our lawsuit," Williams said.

Jones lived in New Orleans until he was 8, then moved to Texas with his
mother. He was a student at Howard University and was working as a personal
trainer at the time of his death. His father, Prince Jones Sr., lives in
Belle Chasse.

The Justice Department will continue to consider the Jones case as part of
a wider probe into police actions in Prince Georges County, which has one
of the highest rate of shootings of any department in the nation.