MINNEAPOLIS — A law enforcement organization has filed an ethics complaint against Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, accusing her of misconduct in pursuit of murder charges against a state trooper in the death of Ricky Cobb II.
The Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association (MPPOA) officially filed the complaint July 16 with the Minnesota Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board. In the complaint, MPPOA Executive Director Brian Peters and attorney Jim Schultz allege that while building her prosecution of trooper Ryan Londregan, Moriarty:
- Knowingly made false statements about the case
- Made public "extrajudicial statements" in an effort to prejudice potential jury members
- Undermined the administration of justice by lying, disregarding key facts and engaging in conduct that was politically motivated.
“Moriarty’s obviously unethical conduct can be explained only by a desire to prosecute a peace officer - regardless of the facts - to achieve political ends," Peters alleged in a released statement. "Moriarty admitted that even the decision to finally dismiss this case was based on her preferred policy goals, and not in the interests of justice.”
"Mary Moriarty’s conduct in this case was reprehensible," Schultz added. "She must be held accountable.”
The Hennepin County Attorney's Office charged Londregan with second-degree murder following the fatal shooting of Cobb on the shoulder of I-94 early the morning of July 31, 2023, despite the trooper's claims that Cobb was reaching for his department-issued firearm. She was widely criticized by law enforcement groups and even Gov. Tim Walz for pursuing the prosecution, with opinions supporting Londregan's position that his use of force was authorized by state law.
"First and foremost, we take this very serious," Peters said. "We have never taken action like this against a county attorney. This is the first time in history that MPPOA has taken action."
After hiring a Washington D.C. - based law firm to prosecute the case for her office - at a cost of at least $1 million - Moriarty announced in early June of 2024 that she was dropping charges, insisting it was a legal decision and not an exoneration of Londregan or those who trained him. She singled out the MPPOA, accusing the organization of bullying behavior and painting Londregan as the victim instead of Cobb.
The Minnesota Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility is responsible for handling complaints of unprofessional conduct against Minnesota lawyers and investigating and prosecuting complaints that warrant professional discipline. Director Susan Humiston explained how the process works, not for this case specifically but for all complaints submitted to the office.
- Complaints are reviewed by an Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility attorney to determine if there’s a basis to investigate the matter. That staffer looks at whether there’s a reasonable belief that misconduct may have occurred, then notify both parties if the complaint will be investigated.
- Approximately 30-40% of complaints are not investigated because they don’t raise a reasonable belief that misconduct may have occurred. However, the majority of complaints do get investigated.
- Both parties are notified within a week or two whether or not the complaint will be investigated. The average duration for an investigation is 6 to 7 months for complaints that end up being dismissed, and approximately a year or so for those that result in attorney discipline.
University of St. Thomas School of Law Associate Professor Rachel Moran said if the board finds she engaged in misconduct the penalties can range from minor to severe.
“It can be anything from sort of like a like a letter or reprimand to something as serious as getting disbarred. I’m not suggesting that would happen here at all, but like they can recommend suspensions, they can recommend disbarments, they can negotiate settlement’s like agreements to particular discipline with an attorney," Moran said.
She said it would be significant if the board found she engaged in misconduct, but it would have minimal impact if the board found she did nothing wrong.
“There are no smoking guns in the complaint. There’s nothing that makes me think ‘oh my gosh, this is new, and different and horrifying.' There are allegations that are worth investigating just in terms of the statements she made that were not necessarily supported by the evidence. It’s worth investigating, but that doesn’t’ mean that there was actually a lack of candor or actual intentional false statements made," she said.
Late Tuesday morning, Moriarty's office responded to the allegations in a statement, telling KARE 11:
“This is an unsurprising action by the MPPOA, an organization that has consistently lobbied against attempts to hold law enforcement accountable and opposed regulations that would ban law enforcement from being involved in white supremacist groups. That’s all we will say on the matter, and will instead continue doing our work.”