No Charges To Be Filed In Joseph Javonte Washington's Shooting Last November
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Attorney General Keith Ellison says his office will not file charges in the officer-involved shooting of 31-year-old Joseph Javonte Washington.
Washington was shot by a St. Paul officer Nov. 28, 2020. Investigators said the vehicle Washington and his victim were in crashed just before 8 p.m. near the intersection of Rice Street and Maryland Avenue in St. Paul's North End neighborhood. Investigators said Washington then broke into a nearby home.
The homeowner called 911, and officers soon arrived to find Washington naked and hiding in a dumpster just after 9 p.m. on the 1000 block of Rice Street.
In body camera video released by police, and officer attempts to coax Washington out of the dumpster and onto the ground. He gets out and an officer shouts "Don't run!" before shots are fired. Washington is bitten by a police K-9 and then screams for the dog to get off him.
On Friday, Ellison's office said that no charges would be filed.
"A police officer is authorized to use deadly force when necessary to prevent great bodily harm or death to themselves or another person. The authorized use of force is an affirmative defense, meaning the State has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the use of force was not authorized. Based on the objective facts known to Officer Dean, the State does not have probable cause to believe that at a trial the State could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Dean's use of force was not authorized," the filing reads. "Accordingly, no criminal charges should be filed."
A source told WCCO last year that the St. Paul police officer who shot Washington was relieved of duty.
This is not the first police use-of-force case Ellison's office has been involved in. Last summer, his office took the lead in prosecuting the cases against four former Minneapolis police officers who are charged in the May 25 death of George Floyd.