Prosecutors drop charges against Minnesota trooper who shot black driver Ricky Cobb

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Prosecutors plan to dismiss murder and manslaughter charges against a white Minnesota state trooper who fatally shot Ricky Cobb II, a black driver, as Cobb tried to drive away from a traffic stop, saying the choice is in response to recent statements from the policeman’s lawyer and a brand new evaluation of the video recording from the scene.

Hennepin County Prosecutor Mary Moriarty filed notice of dismissal of charges after Trooper Ryan Londregan’s defense team revealed potential testimony during an April hearing that the trooper believed Cobb was reaching for a firearm and a Minnesota State Patrol trainer said he never he didn’t instruct officers to refrain from shooting at a moving vehicle.

The evidence would make it not possible for prosecutors to prove that Londregan’s actions didn’t constitute a certified use of force by a peace officer, the district attorney’s office said in an announcement released Sunday.

Regarding the choice to drop the charges, Londregan’s lawyer, Chris Madel, told the Star Tribune: “It’s about time. This will be my only comment in the recording.”

Bakari Sellers, an attorney representing Cobb’s family, told the Star Tribune that the family was disenchanted with prosecutors.

“They were persecuted. There is not any other option,” Sellers said.

Londregan (27) pleaded not guilty to Cobb’s death on May 15, and his trial was scheduled to begin on September 9.

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On July 31, police stopped 33-year-old Cobb on Interstate 94 in Minneapolis because his automotive’s lights weren’t working. They then determined that the Spring Lake Park man was wanted for violating a protection order in neighboring Ramsey County. Londregan shot Cobb twice as Cobb tried to drive away after officers told him to get out of the automotive.

Prosecutors and a law enforcement expert reviewed footage from the scene and located that as Londregan’s partner pressed against the passenger door, Cobb put his hand up. Cobb did have a gun within the vehicle. Moriarty told the Star Tribune he still did not have the evidence he intended to seize, however the defense team’s statements prompted prosecutors to reconsider the evidence from a brand new perspective.

“They could have told us that before we charged them, they could have told us that at any time,” she said. “And that is information that we would consider – and of course we did.”

Law enforcement and Republican leaders have been calling on Democratic Gov. Tim Walz to take the case away from Moriarty, a former public defender who was elected on a platform of police accountability after the 2020 killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis officer, and switch him to case to Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison. Walz expressed concern concerning the direction of the case but took no motion.

In April, Cobb’s family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit, maintaining that the arrest and shooting were wrongful.

Moriarty plans to carry a news conference Monday morning to debate his decision to dismiss the charges in additional detail.