Will Gov. Walz reassign prosecution of Trooper Londregan to AG Ellison?

Gov. Tim Walz on Monday said that the "option is always open" to remove the murder case against a state trooper murder from Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty and reassign it to Attorney General Keith Ellison.

"But I want to be very clear that this is a serious step in terms of our justice system, which as I said, I still believe juries and I still believe jurors can do the right thing and justice can be served," Walz said when asked about the case at a budget press conference.

The governor expressed concerns over Moriarty's handling of the case she filed against a Trooper Ryan Londregan, who shot motorist Ricky Cobb II last summer during a traffic stop on Interstate 94 in north Minneapolis. Law enforcement groups and Minnesota House Republicans have recently called for the case to be removed from Moriarty after controversy came to light through court filings last week from Londregan's defense attorneys.

The filings reveal how Moriarty's independent use-of-force expert initially opined that a reasonable officer would have acted like Londregan did to protect his partner, who was being dragged as Cobb's car lurched forward. Despite Moriarty saying that an expert opinion was critical to making her charging decision, she stopped working with the expert, then later charged Londregan with second-degree murder, manslaughter and first-degree assault.

"As a layman on this, why would you not listen to a use of force expert? Why would that not be central to something you would do?" Walz said with the disclaimer that he's not a lawyer. But he said he's been talking to a lot of legal experts and "there's a lot of confusion and controversy of what's happened so far in this case and I just want to make sure it's fair."

Walz said he's waiting to hear what the judge has to say on the expert, as first reported by Axios. Attorneys will argue before Judge Tamara Garcia on Thursday morning.

In response to Walz's comments, Moriarty's office issued a statement Monday morning to the Star Tribune.

"Like in every case, we have been extremely thorough in this investigation and we will continue to be as we prepare this case for a potential trial. We would be happy to meet with the Governor or his team to discuss any concerns they have about the rules of criminal procedure — the same rules our office follows and fulfills in thousands of cases every year. Otherwise, we will litigate this case in court, which is where it belongs."

County attorney spokesman Nick Kimball said last week that a use-of-force expert could still be used as evidence before a jury, but the office was able to determine appropriate charges without an expert report.

Ellison told the Star Tribune at the capitol Monday morning before Walz's press conference that his office is studying the situation.

"We're reviewing it and we don't know what's going to happen yet," Ellison said, adding that "one complicating factor" is that his office represents every state agency and that includes Minnesota state troopers.

"And so it does present a bit of a conflict. Because you can't prosecute your own client, right?" he said.

"If there's a lawsuit against the troopers because of this action, we will be defending that," he said. "And on the other hand, we may be being asked to prosecute, so it creates real complication."

The AG said the law states that the county attorney can ask or the governor can assign a case. "Neither one of those have happened yet," Ellison said, adding that his office hasn't received any request from Walz.

Ellison added: "we're just looking into a lot of this at this point."

"So I just want to say, this thing's up in the air."

As to whether Ellison could handle given conflicts, Walz said the office deals with these cases all the time.

"While it's true they do represent the state patrol, they also have firewalls over there where they can call up their attorneys who would be able to have that capacity," he said.

Case reassignment

The governor has statutory authority to reassign any criminal case from any county attorney. But that has happened only twice in modern history. In the 1990s, the governor stepped in to request the attorney general take over a criminal sexual conduct case in Crow Wing County. Then last year, Ellison requested Walz assign him a high-profile murder case from Moriarty despite her fierce objections.

Walz said at the time that Ellison "requested this important case and stepped up once again to serve the people of Minnesota."

The family of Zaria McKeever had begged Ellison for weeks to take over the case, after Moriarty offered what they felt were lenient plea deals to the teenagers charged with murder in a fatal home invasion.

Moriarty said Ellison's decision to take the case was "undemocratic" and "undermines the longstanding constitutional authority, autonomy, and responsibility of elected prosecutors."

When the family of murder victim Stephen Markey — who was gunned down by teenagers during an attempted 2019 carjacking in Minneapolis — asked Walz and Ellison to intervene in 2023, the state's top officials balked.

Walz's spokesperson said his process is to only reassign a case to Ellison at the AG's request, "and the governor stands by that process."

Ellison said last September that McKeever's case would be the only time he asked to take a case.

"I did not expect to ask the Governor to any assign future criminal cases from county attorneys to me," Ellison said. "..[T]hat remains my intention today. Ultimately, all elected officials, including county attorneys, are accountable to voters for their decisions."

Cases used to only change hands at the request of the county attorney in police killings. Ellison took over the prosecution of ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd. He also handled the prosecution ex-Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter in the shooting death of Daunte Wright. Both cases were reassigned upon request of the county attorney.

The Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association (MPPOA), a trade association representing Minnesota public safety professionals, sent a letter to Walz calling on him to take the case away from Moriarty. The association's defense fund is paying Londregan's attorneys. The March 18 letter said the association was not requesting special treatment in favor of an MPPOA member, as Ellison "can hardly be accused of a bias in favor of law enforcement."

"Trooper Londregan, like any Minnesotan accused of a crime, deserves to have any possible charges considered by a prosecutor concerned with justice, not a personal political agenda," the letter states.

"There is a crisis of confidence in the elected leadership who are supposed to be partners in making our communities safer, but instead seek to score political points through charging every police officer whom circumstances compel to use deadly force, regardless of the evidence."

Kimball, the county attorney's spokesperson, said in a statement last week that the crisis in confidence "is because of well-documented and horrific instances where some officers abused their power and used unauthorized force."

"These abuses have fallen disproportionately upon the shoulders of Black and brown Minnesotans. It is unfortunate to see MPPOA fail to acknowledge this history and fail to try to repair it."