Hennepin Co. attorney explains dropped charges for trooper Ryan Londregan in Ricky Cobb II killing
MINNEAPOLIS — A day after announcing she will drop the charges against a Minnesota state trooper who killed a man during a traffic stop last summer, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty explained her decision at a news conference.
Moriarty filed a notice of dismissal of charges against Ryan Londregan in the shooting death of 33-year-old Ricky Cobb II due to "several new pieces of evidence that would make it impossible for the State to prove that Mr. Londregan's actions were not an authorized use of force by a peace officer," she said Sunday.
The new evidence, according to Moriarty, is that Londregan planned to testify he saw Cobb reach for Londregan's firearm and that a state patrol trainer said he never instructed officers to refrain from shooting into a moving vehicle during an extraction, even though it is best practice.
"Make no mistake: Ricky Cobb was the victim in this case. Ricky Cobb should be alive today," Moriarty said Monday.
However, she added, "When new evidence becomes available we evaluate our cases based on that new information." She said when her office brought the new evidence to a use of force expert for review, it was determined prosecutors would "no longer be able to succeed at trial."
Moriarty said her office concluded the judge would have likely granted a motion of acquittal by the defense during trial.
"We do not believe we would have even made it to the jury," she said. "Practically we know we're not going to get a conviction in this case, and what would that mean? That would mean that once again community would say the system didn't work and Mr. Londregan and [the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association] would be able to talk about, 'Hey, there was a jury verdict.' And we then would not really be able to talk as effectlively about the systemic barriers that set that up to happen."
The county attorney defended her office's decision to charge Londregan in the first place, saying it was appropriate based on the evidence known at the time. She said Steptoe LLP, the outside law firm hired to aid the prosecution, agreed that charging Londregan was the right decision.
Moriarty also denied the dropped charges had anything to do with last week's fatal shooting of Minneapolis police officer Jamal Mitchell.
"For those who say this was a political decision, absolutely not," she said.
Attorneys representing Cobb's family released the following statement:
"While we are disappointed, we are not surprised because, like many, we have come to expect the absence of justice and accountability when Black lives are lost in this country. In fact, the state of Minnesota has repeatedly demonstrated that Black lives simply are not valued whether it's Daunte Demetrius Wright, Philando Castile or Ricky Cobb II.
"The simple fact is that, regardless of how many absurd excuses Trooper Londregan gives to try and absolve himself, he shot and killed Ricky Cobb II at point blank range without any justification and, instead of prosecuting him for murder, the County Attorney's Office has bowed to political pressure to drop the charges. Apparently, all you have to do to get away with murder is to bully the prosecutors enough and the charges will just go away.
"The people don't believe the excuses and neither do we."
After Moriarty's news conference, at a separate event, Gov. Tim Walz said he would have taken the case away from her office had she not come to this decision.
"There certainly was no politicization in this," Walz said. "We need to make sure that our justice system is fair, and I think what became apparent to many folks is is that there were problems in this prosecution from the beginning and this was the right place it needed to end."
Londregan was charged with and pleaded not guilty to second-degree unintentional murder, first-degree assault and second-degree manslaughter.
Details of the shooting
On the morning of July 31, 2023, two troopers pulled Cobb, who was Black, over for not having his taillights on. They soon discovered he was wanted by Ramsey County law enforcement for violating a no-contact order in a domestic case.
Body camera footage captured by the troopers showed them demanding Cobb exit his vehicle. He refused and began driving away when a trooper tried to unbuckle his seat belt. That's when Londregan, who is White, fired two rounds into Cobb's torso.
Cobb's vehicle continued to move, causing two of the troopers to fall to the ground. The vehicle eventually came to a stop, and Cobb was found dead inside.
A federal lawsuit filed by Cobb's family claims Londregan and Brett Seide unreasonably seized Cobb by ordering him out of the car without explaining if he was under arrest, and by reaching into the car and grabbing him in an attempt to "forcibly remove him." The troopers also used "unnecessary, excessive, and deadly force" on Cobb, the lawsuit says.
