Hundreds of people arrived by bus and filled the courthouse Monday morning to express solidarity with Minnesota State Trooper Ryan Londregan and demand justice for the motorist he shot and killed last summer. There was a brief conflict with a vocal force.
A group of off-duty law enforcement and other supporters wearing burgundy T-shirts with the slogan “Officer Lon Regan is Innocent” recite a prayer and stand guard in the atrium of the Hennepin County Government Center. Rondregan cheered as he passed by.
“I just can't understand what he and his family are going through,” said Gina Loperfido, standing by the rotunda's rotating glass doors clutching a handmade sign that read “We ♥ you.” Told. She wanted Ms. Rondregan to give her final message. You might see him on his way to court.
Londregan appeared Monday for an omnibus hearing related to charges of murder, manslaughter and assault in the shooting death of motorist Ricky Cobb II during a traffic stop on Interstate 94 in north Minneapolis. Officers arrested Cobb for driving without taillights, but it was soon discovered that he was wanted for violating a domestic no-contact order. As Mr Londregan and his colleague got into part of the car to try to remove Mr Cobb, he failed to follow instructions to get out of the car and start driving, causing the car to lurch forward.
Ron Regan fired his service weapon, striking Cobb twice. Officer Brett Sides said he feared for his safety and Rondregan protected him. Several use of force experts have opined that the shooting was justified because Rondregan was protecting Zaide.
In a city that four years ago became ground zero for protests and riots against police use of force, the charges against Mr. Londregan were echoed by pro-law enforcement groups who showed up in droves to protest the false accusations against Mr. Londregan. caused a strong reaction. soldier. More than 100 people gathered outside the courthouse in solidarity with Londregan during his first court appearance in January. A crowd flocked to Monday's omnibus hearing after various groups issued calls on social media.
As the hearing began upstairs, a small group of counter-protesters gathered in the lobby, chanting, “We don't want killer cops.” Some of Londregan's supporters argued with them. On a rainy morning, as courthouse security guards tried to use the crowded skyway level to clear the way for pedestrians heading to work downtown, many turned their backs and several others chanted, “God Bless. I started singing “America.”
“Justice for Ricky Cobb!” shouted a man as he walked through a crowd of Rondregan supporters. Police reform activists continued chanting as Hennepin County sheriff's deputies called for support, and organizers directed Rondregan's supporters to gather on the other side of the atrium.
Rashad Cobb showed up to speak to a growing number of demonstrators, many of whom, like him, were wearing red T-shirts with a photo of his late brother on them.
“He was going home,” Cobb said of the twins. “Who kills people returning home?”
As they waited for the two-hour hearing to end, several Cobb supporters mingled with the crowd of law enforcement officials seeking to engage in civil dialogue about the case.
Independent street videographer Brixton Hughes spoke to a man who believed there was a “false narrative” about the fatal traffic stop. Hughes said officers should have waited to remove Cobb from the car until they could “resolve the situation non-violently.”
They discussed law enforcement training, but ultimately “we just couldn't agree on what the video showed,” Hughes, 62, told the Star Tribune. “He wasn't looking for a fight,” he said.
Londregan sat next to his defense attorney in a quiet courtroom, with his wife, parents and law enforcement union members behind him. Across the aisle, Cobb's family filled the first two rows.
Chris Freeman, the lead attorney for the Hennepin County Attorney's Office, sat alone in the prosecutor's chair in the courtroom following a recent reshuffle of the defense team. A senior prosecutor who played a key role in prosecuting former officers Derek Chauvin and Kim Potter has walked away from Rondregan's case.
Freeman said a team of four former federal prosecutors from the Washington, D.C.-based international law firm Steptoe LLP will serve as special assistant county attorneys. He took over as administrator on Monday and said “transfers will be made shortly.”
County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced during the hearing that her office had hired outside counsel.
“Former federal prosecutors with impeccable backgrounds are focused on this case, while the rest of the team handles a large number of other critical cases that are central to community safety,” Moriarty said in a press release. “We will continue the important work of prosecuting these cases.” , added that the defense team's fees will be paid from the county attorney's existing budget.
The new defense team will appear at a second omnibus hearing on June 10, when the parties will continue to argue probable cause.
Possible cause arguments
In written and oral arguments before Judge Tamara Garcia, the parties disagreed on whether there were sufficient facts and circumstances to support the charges against Mr. Londregan. Lawyers are asking Garcia to be removed from office on the grounds that Cobb's killing was justified and lacks probabilities.
“Is it fair and reasonable for this man to stand trial?” Defense attorney Chris Madel asked Garcia multiple times throughout the two-hour hearing.
Madel said it's up to Garcia to stand between the government and the defendant, and the judge needs to act as an arbiter, otherwise use-of-force cases would go straight to trial “at the whim of the county attorney.” He said it would happen.
Freeman said in a court filing that this is the same argument made by attorneys for former police officers Derek Chauvin and Kim Potter, and that it is up to juries to decide whether an officer's use of force was justified. Therefore, like the judges in both cases, Garcia said the argument should be rejected.
Additionally, the state said allowing defense arguments at an omnibus hearing would turn the case into a bench trial and that such arguments should be saved for a later contested hearing.
Defense attorneys, however, argue that state law allows for affirmative defenses in omnibus hearings, and that this has happened before. Defense attorneys dismissed misdemeanor charges against former Minnesota Viking Dante Culpepper, who was accused of lewd conduct in the infamous Lake Minnetonka boat party sex scandal in 2006 by former Hennepin County Judge Kevin Burke. Refers to the judgment.
Burke dismissed the case, ruling that Culpepper's alibi and another witness would exonerate him.
Mr. Madel and co-counsels Peter Wald and Todd Hennen listed a number of experts from around the country who were prepared to testify that Mr. Londregan did not violate any policies and that his actions were reasonable. .
Mr. Londregan is also expected to testify. Madel said the officer's testimony will include a regular duty report on July 31 and his experience responding to a traffic stop on Seide in Cobb. Mr. Said has already testified before a grand jury that Mr. Rondregan “saved his life,” Mr. Madell said in court.
Freeman said there will be expert testimony for the prosecution, but he did not name them. The department previously hired a use-of-force expert who opined that Londregan acted reasonably. Moriarty tells him to stop working on the case.
After the hearing, Londregan's supporters and counter-protesters crowded into the center of the lobby, and lawmakers struggled to separate the groups. Supporters of prosecuting the officers, including Cobb's family, climbed onto benches and planters and chanted loudly to drown out Londregan's lawyers as they tried to speak to reporters.
Moments later, tensions escalated and several shoves were exchanged, with one police reform activist knocking a cell phone out of the hand of a Londregan supporter.
In the end they decided to go their separate ways.
