The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office released documents related to the case against Trooper Ryan Londregan, closing out its work in Ricky Cobb II’s death last summer.

The main document is a 69-page report written by special prosecutors in the case, in addition to their invoices for service.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty promised to release the report when she announced the decision to dismiss the case against Londregan. Because the report references data not previously released to the public, HCAO needed to wait for the BCA to release its public case file, which occurred on Tuesday.

The HCAO also filed motions seeking approval from the court to release grand jury transcripts and a sealed declaration from a law enforcement officer. The court agreed to unseal the declaration but denied HCAO’s motion to unseal the grand jury transcripts. Therefore, they are not included in the released documents and any reference to them has been redacted from the special prosecutor report.

“When we dismissed the case against Mr. Londregan because of new evidence, I promised to
release this report and the grand jury transcript as soon as possible,” said Moriarty. “While the court denied our request to make the grand jury transcript public, I believe it’s still important to release as much of this information as we can. Such transparency is key to creating community trust. The family of Ricky Cobb II deserves this transparency, as does the larger community.”

The report was written by Steptoe LLP — a group of former federal prosecutors brought in to assist with the Londregan case and examine the evidence. On Friday, 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS obtained invoices for the national law firm — Steptoe charged the county more than $575,000.

The report identified several key findings:

• The HCAO’s initial decision to prosecute Mr. Londregan based on available evidence was justified. New evidence – including sworn statements by troopers that were not previously shared with BCA or HCAO investigators or the grand jury – made it impossible for prosecutors to prove the case.
• Minnesota State Patrol (MSP) Troopers and training officers generally did not
  cooperate with the BCA and/or HCAO investigation. Approximately 37 MSP troopers
  either refused to be interviewed or did not reply to BCA interview requests.
• Many of the troopers – none facing charges – retained counsel for interviews with
  the BCA.
• Involved troopers delayed submitting reports for more than a week after the
  shooting.
• MSP trainers and officers waited months after the filing of charges to provide
  additional information related to Trooper Londregan’s training.
• Troopers had several non-violent options that could have prevented Mr. Cobb’s
  death.

The special prosecutors made their feelings clear early in the introduction of the report, writing, “Ricky Cobb should be alive today.”

Also, pointing out that despite the outcome of Trooper Londregan’s charges getting dropped, it does not mean “the County Attorney or special prosecutors believe that Trooper Londregan acted appropriately.”

Later, the report pointed to, “poor tactics and inadequate Academy training that produced a result we believe to have been entirely avoidable.”

Highlighting that the troopers involved did not make a plan before attempting to arrest Cobb, the special prosecutors went as far as calling Trooper Londregan’s decision to open the passenger door of Cobb’s car a “dangerous tactical blunder.”

As for the dozens of troopers, the special prosecuting team said they either refused to participate in interviews or never responded to state investigators — they said that “undermines the rule of law.”

Wrapping up the nearly 70-page reports were recommendations for the MSP and Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, including changes to use-of-force policies and training that includes more focus on de-escalation.

It also recommends the commissioner of public safety to “consider authorizing an internal affairs investigation into the cooperation—or lack of cooperation—by MSP members in this matter.”

“Generally speaking, the lack of full cooperation by members of the MSP was not only
disappointing to investigators, given that these members pledged to uphold the law, but it also
created an unnecessary challenge to BCA and the HCAO’s necessary fact-gathering. Such
selective cooperation, depending on whether witnesses are sympathetic to the investigation, is
unacceptable. It undermines the rule of law.”

Special Prosecutors’ Report and Recommendations

The Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association also released a statement in response to the report:

The HCAO saying the charging decision was “justified” is her opinion – I want to make sure you understand that it’s not fact and the distinction of that. I’m sure Londregan’s attorney Chris Madel will tell you charging Londregan in this case was NEVER justified.

Second, I don’t think the MSP Troopers were not required to participate, to be honest. Noting this in her “recap” is simply distraction from the real issue of not having facts on her side to charge the case, and her making up a political prosecution based on her hatred of law enforcement officers.

The real story is the $500,000+ spent on Steptoe on a nothingburger. What a waste of time, taxpayer dollars, on a witchhunt that didn’t exist in the first place. Shame on her. Her hatred of law enforcement outweighed doing what’s right to fairly prosecute the law.

Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association

The Minnesota State Patrol released a statement regarding the report as well:

“The State Patrol is committed to transparency and strong professional working relationships with internal and external partners. The Minnesota State Patrol disagrees with the report released by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office insinuating a lack of cooperation by our troopers. Every individual being questioned as a witness or otherwise in any criminal investigation has a right to retain counsel and seek legal advice. We’re extremely disappointed in the inaccuracies of current and previous statements made by the Hennepin County Attorney.”

Col. Chirstina Bogojevic

View a full redacted version of the report below:

Click here for KSTP’s full Ryan Londregan coverage.