Court Overturns Conviction From Forced Admission : Law: Officers got confession by telling the Inglewood man they would kill him and say that he was trying to escape, appeals judges rule.

A federal appeals court reversed an Inglewood truck driver’s conviction for possession of a sawed-off shotgun, ruling Friday that authorities illegally coerced a confession out of him through beatings and threats on his life.

U.S. 9th Circuit Judge Robert Boochever said “the shocking nature of the officers’ actions” led the judges to conclude that Jeffrey Jenkins had involuntarily confessed to owning the shotgun. Judges Betty B. Fletcher and Charles Wiggins joined in the unanimous opinion, which concluded that officers threatened to plant a gun on Jenkins and kill him under the guise of preventing his escape.

The decision does not make it clear which law enforcement authorities were involved in the beatings or the death threats. The Times was unable to reach either of the federal prosecutors who handled the case, and Jenkins’ attorney said he did not know the affiliations of the officers.

The case stemmed from a 1988 drug raid by several law enforcement agencies investigating Los Angeles gang members who sold narcotics in Seattle.

Jenkins’ brother, Derrick Hargress, had been indicted in Seattle on narcotics and firearms charges. A Seattle narcotics task force obtained a warrant to search Jenkins’ and Hargress’ Inglewood house for firearms, narcotics, drug-trafficking ledgers and cash.

On May 11, 1988, federal agents and local police officers went to Jenkins’ home to execute the warrant. Jenkins ran through a back door into the house and fired several rounds from a semiautomatic rifle, authorities said.

He was indicted on four counts of attempted murder of a federal agent, four counts of assault on a federal agent, use of a firearm during a crime of violence and possession of an unregistered sawed-off shotgun.

At a trial in 1989, government witnesses contended that police clearly identified themselves when the raid began and yelled “Stop! Police!” at Jenkins. But Jenkins said he had never heard the police identify themselves.

He explained his actions by saying that he had been shot in the stomach three times only months earlier and believed the darkly clad men who came to his house were Mexican gang members out to kill him.

That testimony was corroborated at the trial by two witnesses who were in the house at the time of the raid. Jenkins’ mother testified that her son came running in the house yelling, “Momma, Momma, they coming to get us! They come to kill us! Call 911!” And a family friend said Jenkins yelled, “They’re sending three Mexicans after me!”

The mother also testified that a police officer told her to tell her son to come to the front door with his hands up. She said her son immediately placed his rifle on the bed and complied with the order.

But police misconduct began soon thereafter, Friday’s decision stated.

“Upon exiting the house as ordered, Jenkins was thrown to the ground and repeatedly kicked in the groin, stomach and back by the arresting officers,” the decision stated.

Additionally, the judges noted that an arresting officer who knew Jenkins had been recently shot said something similar to “they should have killed you, but that’s OK, we’ll do it.”

The appeals court said the trial judge, Terry J. Hatter Jr., had concluded that the officers stopped at the Inglewood Forum on their way to the police station with Jenkins, then showed Jenkins a gun. Hatter said the officers had threatened to plant a gun on Jenkins and said they would kill him and later claim he had tried to escape.

Nonetheless, Hatter concluded that Jenkins had confessed voluntarily to possession of the shotgun and denied a motion from Jenkins’ lawyer to suppress evidence about the gun.

At trial, a jury acquitted Jenkins of all but the gun charge. His lawyer, deputy federal public defender Carlton F. Gunn, appealed.

“The circumstances of this confession present a classic case of coercion,” the appeals court decision said. “Defendant is beaten and threatened with death, shuttled between the hospital and jail, questioned immediately upon his return in the small hours of the morning, at which point he confesses.

“While it is true that Jenkins did not blurt out a confession while being beaten or threatened, there is no evidence he was even questioned at that earlier time. . . . At the first occasion for him to capitulate, at his initial questioning, he did.”

The judges added, “We believe that the implicit threat of a repetition of the beatings and the fear that the police might make good on their twice-promised death threat were sufficient to render Jenkins’ 2 a.m. confession coerced.”