Civil suit filed in Wasilla prison officer's death

ANCHORAGE -- The state of Alaska announced this month it will not seek criminal charges against Michael Longan in connection with a crash on the Seward Highway that killed a correctional officer from Wasilla and four prison inmates.

However a civil lawsuit filed against Longan by the Wasilla man's wife has been consolidated with other lawsuits stemming from the incident and is proceeding toward trial, said attorney David H. Shoup. He represents Debra A. Hesterberg, whose husband died in the Nov. 19, 2002, incident at Mile 18 Seward Highway near Kenai Lake.

Prisoner Transport Officer James "Jamie" Hesterberg, 48, was pronounced dead at the scene. He and partner Dennis Nilsen of Eagle River were transferring seven inmates from Palmer to the maximum security Spring Hill Correctional Center in Seward when they collided with a tractor-trailer truck driven by Longan on the snowy, slushy highway.

Nilsen was treated for injuries and released from a Seward hospital.

Troopers investigating the scene determined the commercial semi-truck crossed the center line, with its rear drive wheels striking the driver's side of the Department of Corrections van. A gouge in the asphalt showed where the van was pushed into the blacktop by impact, troopers said.

Hesterberg's wrongful death suit names Longan and his employer, R and K Industrial Inc. The suit was filed March 19, 2003, in Anchorage Superior Court.

Shoup said there's a "much lower" burden of proof in civil cases than in criminal cases.

"It's a different ball game, a different set of facts," he said.

Shoup believes the state may have decided not to prosecute because of the cost to go to trial, saying, "The state has limited resources."

He added there are "a bunch of claims" against Longan, all of which were assigned to a new judge after being consolidated. The next step is a hearing between defendants and plaintiffs, with a trial date still to be set.

If found guilty, Longan would not face the possibility of doing prison time as is the case in criminal trials.

"It's all monetary," Shoup said of the criminal suit. "There's a wrongful death statue but [the amount of damages is] left intentionally vague to a degree. This case is about whether the driver of the truck crossed the center line and killed and injured all these people."

Heirs of prisoners William Olanna, 39, of Anchorage, and Moses Usugan, 40, no hometown given, also filed a wrongful death suit which is among the consolidated filing. In their case, plaintiffs Steven Olanna and Lucy Usugan named the state of Alaska as a defendant as well as Longan and R and K Industrial.

Surviving inmate John Powell, 40, of Homer, filed a personal injury lawsuit against Longan, R and K Industrial and the state of Alaska.