MINNEAPOLIS — Almost a year to the day since a former Minnesota state trooper killed 33-year-old Ricky Cobb II, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office made previously unreleased case documents public for the first time.
Moriarty's office released its special prosecutors' 69-page report and an additional two invoices for services Friday, coming just days after the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association (MPPOA) accused the office of misconduct during its investigation into trooper Ryan Londregan.
Londregan was charged with second-degree murder following Cobb II's shooting, which happened after Cobb tried to flee a traffic stop in Minneapolis on July 31, 2023. Troopers pulled Cobb over on Interstate 94, alleging the lights were out on his vehicle before learning Cobb was wanted for violating a domestic no-contact order in Ramsey County.
Troopers ordered Cobb II out of his vehicle before he started pulling away. When Cobb refused to stop, Londregan opened fire, shooting the Spring Lake Park man twice.
Moriarty said her office released the documents Friday because she promised to do so when she dismissed Londregan's case on June 2. The charges had initially been filed on Jan. 25.
“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, in a statement. “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.”
Friday's report includes data that Moriarty's office said was held up, pending the release of materials from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. The BCA's case files were shared publicly on Monday.
According to the county's special prosecutor's report, which was compiled by a group of former federal prosecutors retained to specifically assist in the Londregan case, they found there was a general "lack of cooperation" on behalf of the Minnesota State Patrol.
“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,” said the special prosecutors' report said.
Other findings in the report included:
- 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 invoices showed the state spent more than $578,000 on retaining the group of special prosecutors.
"Having the additional resources to prepare for trial along with Steptoe’s expertise handling complex litigation was necessary," a Hennepin County Attorney spokesperson said. "Ultimately the job of a prosecutor is to make ethical decisions and determine if a case can succeed at trial or not, and if new information changes that determination, to then drop those charges as we did here. Steptoe’s analysis also spotlighted some issues with a failure to cooperate with investigators by MSP and recommendations for fixing systemic issues that we hope will be taken seriously."
In response to one of the report's allegations that the troopers didn't cooperate, Londregan's attorney, Chris Madel, told KARE 11 he believed Moriarty's office was "trying to backfill their misconduct."
"They're trying to backfill their misconduct and that's what she keeps doing, and keeps trying to drag my client's name through the mud," he said.
Madel went on to claim the office was "just continuing the mantra of misstatements and lies that they've done since day one," with the documents' release and called it "nonsense and absurdity."
"There was a war. She lost. We won. She needs to understand it's time to move on and shut up," he said, adding, "Get on with your life. Go ruin someone else's life and leave my client alone. That's what I'm asking."
Colonel Christina Bogojevic with the Minnesota State Patrol released a statement disagreeing with the report, saying that the department is "committed to transparency."
The full statement reads:
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.