Costa Mesa police cleared in man’s shooting death

Costa Mesa police officers were cleared Thursday of criminal wrongdoing in a deadly encounter last year with a man who prosecutors say had caught authorities’ attention because he tried to blackmail his girlfriend’s ex-husband during a custody dispute.

Julius “Jay” Pinson, 48, was wrestling with two officers trying to arrest him moments before he raised a revolver to his head and shot himself while one of the officers fired a round into Pinson’s chest almost simultaneously, according to a letter released by the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Either gunshot would have been fatal, but coroner’s officials ultimately ruled Pinson’s death a suicide, investigators wrote.

Officer Paul McCarthy, the letter concludes, was “clearly justified” in shooting Pinson, who investigators say had tried to take the officer’s gun during the struggle.

Pinson’s clash with McCarthy and Officer Hans Guenther began as the officers tried to arrest him outside his Costa Mesa home on Dec. 16. But the events leading to the confrontation began weeks earlier.

As the district attorney’s office letter describes, Pinson lived in the 3000 block of Jeffrey Drive with his girlfriend and her 10-year-old son. The girlfriend was trying to alter her custody agreement with her ex-husband so she, Pinson and the boy could move to Florida.

During a visit in early December, the boy asked his father to read from a script apologizing for molesting him and promising to never do it again.

“While [the father] denied ever doing such a thing, and was concerned by the content of the message, he went along with the script because he did not want to disappoint his son,” investigators wrote.

On Dec. 15, Pinson tried to use a recording of that conversation to blackmail the father, the district attorney’s office wrote.

“Pinson told [the father] he had special ops contacts in the military that would be able to put a bullet through [the father’s] eyes,” according to the letter. “Pinson then told [the father] he had a recording of the scripted conversation he had with his son, and played him that recording.”

Pinson suggested it would be in the father’s interest to stop contesting custody and pay an extra $500 in child support, the letter states.

The next day, the father reported the incident to police, who followed up by interviewing Pinson, the boy and his mother.

With some pressing, the 10-year-old tearfully corroborated his father’s story that the scripted recording had been Pinson’s idea, investigators wrote.

After the interviews, police discovered that Pinson was wanted in Hobbs, N.M., on warrants alleging criminal sexual penetration, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, embezzlement and forgery.

By 10:40 that night, McCarthy and Guenther arrived outside Pinson’s apartment to arrest him. They planned to use a stun gun if things got out of hand.

Pinson originally cooperated with the officers, who asked him to step outside to talk about the earlier visit by police. But, investigators wrote, Pinson got nervous when Guenther asked for a Social Security number that Guenther used to confirm Pinson’s identity.

When officers asked Pinson to put his hands behind his back, “Pinson, realizing he was being arrested, started saying ‘no’ and began pulling away,” according to the letter.

Investigators wrote that they were unable to find any independent witnesses who saw the ensuing struggle, despite interviewing 11 people during their canvass of the neighborhood. Nevertheless, the letter describes the incident as follows:

After being told not to resist, Pinson wrenched out of the officers’ grip on his arms. McCarthy tried to take Pinson to the ground but failed in an attempt to sweep his leg.

The officers pushed Pinson against a fence, where he ended up chest to chest with McCarthy, who saw a black object in Pinson’s hand. Realizing it was a gun, McCarthy yelled twice to alert his partner.

As the three scuffled, Pinson fired one shot from his revolver, but the round didn’t hit anyone.

“The fight then went to the ground, with Pinson laying on his stomach and the officers attempting to control him,” investigators wrote.

While both officers tried to control the muzzle of Pinson’s gun, McCarthy realized that Pinson had used his other hand to release the strap holding McCarthy’s gun in place.

McCarthy reached down to secure his weapon but lost control of Pinson’s hand holding the revolver.

“Pinson raised his gun off the ground in Officer McCarthy’s direction,” investigators wrote. “Officer McCarthy drew his gun from his holster and fired one round into Pinson’s upper left chest.”

Pinson fired his own gun “almost simultaneously,” hitting himself in the head, according to the letter.

Both officers told investigators that they believed they were “in a fight for their lives.”

Paramedics arrived soon after and pronounced Pinson dead at 10:54 p.m.

An autopsy showed that Pinson had post-mortem blood-alcohol content of 0.3%, investigators wrote.

Investigators also outlined Pinson’s criminal history, which included arrests in New Mexico involving embezzlement, fraud, theft and drug cases.

After Pinson’s death, Costa Mesa Councilman Gary Monahan drew threats of a protest when he agreed that his restaurant would host a wake for Pinson, but he canceled the gathering because of the publicity it received.

Monahan, who declined to comment Thursday because he hadn’t read the district attorney’s office letter, previously said that he knew Pinson from the man’s visits to the restaurant, Skosh Monahan’s, but was unaware of his criminal past.