Advocates for Minnesota State Trooper Ryan Londregan are urging the Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board (LPRB) to conduct a fair and impartial ethics investigation into Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty.
Moriarty brought three felony charges against Trooper Londregan in January, including second-degree unintentional murder. The charges were connected to a July 2023 incident where Londregan fatally shot Ricky Cobb II after he began to flee in his vehicle during a traffic stop.
The Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association and attorney Jim Schultz filed a professional conduct complaint against Moriarty in July, saying her handling of Londregan’s criminal case could “be explained only by a desire to prosecute a peace officer—regardless of the facts—to achieve political ends.”
Now, Moriarty’s attorneys have responded to the complaint and asked for it to be dismissed.
“The facts of this matter do not support a finding by clear and convincing evidence that County Attorney Moriarty violated any Rules of Professional Conduct. We request that the Director’s Office dismiss the complaint,” they wrote in a Sept. 11 letter.
Moriarty’s attorneys argued that her conduct in Londregan’s case demonstrated her “deep commitment to justice.”
“In spite of intense public pressure to prosecute Trooper Londregan, when confronted with adverse evidence County Attorney Moriarty used her discretion to dismiss the case rather than put Trooper Londregan through an expensive and lengthy trial. This case demonstrates the tension under which a county attorney must execute her responsibilities as a minster of justice,” they wrote.
The MPPOA and Schultz said in their own letter to the LPRB that Moriarty’s actions went beyond simple mistakes or misjudgments, accusing her and her office of knowingly making false statements to the press and courts about Londregan’s actions in an attempt to smear him as the case against him weakened.
In the letter, they wrote, “We hope that the Board treats these matters with the serious consideration they deserve and conducts a fair, thoughtful, and impartial investigation—unlike what the facts show Moriarty refused to offer Trooper Londregan.”
Moriarty’s defense under fire
The MPPOA and Schultz also blasted Moriarty’s response to the ethics complaint, alleging that it failed to address the key accusations brought against her.
“Moriarty’s Response demonstrates her disregard for both the truth and her responsibilities as an elected prosecutor when they do not serve her personal political aims,” they wrote.
“Moriarty does not seriously dispute that she and those under her supervision made false statements to the press and the Court regarding the supposed evidence against Trooper Londregan in service of her effort to unjustly prosecute him. Nor can she honestly contest that when her effort failed—under increasing public scrutiny and the anticipated involvement of the Governor’s Office—she resorted to falsely smearing Trooper Londregan and attempting to justify her misconduct. Instead, Moriarty principally claims to have been acting as an advocate. But this ignores Moriarty’s responsibilities as a minister of justice.”
The initial ethics complaint claims Moriarty engaged in prejudicial pretrial publicity and made false statements about Londregan’s conduct.
Charges dropped, but controversy remains
Under mounting scrutiny, Moriarty dropped the charges against Londregan in June. However, Schultz and the MPPOA claim that Moriarty did not quietly back down.
Instead, they allege she continued to portray Londregan negatively and implied that political concerns—rather than a lack of evidence—were the reason the case was dismissed.
“Finally, Moriarty does not deserve credit for the sudden, Sunday-evening dismissal of the prosecution that she never should have commenced. As discussed in our initial complaint, Moriarty only dismissed after learning of ‘credible rumors’ that the Governor was going to reassign the case to another prosecutor and because she believed her inevitable loss at trial would disrupt her ability to achieve her desired political goals. Simply put, Moriarty brought a political prosecution and then dismissed it for political reasons,” they said.
Walz remains silent on calls to remove Moriarty from police cases
In August, the MPPOA sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz, urging him to remove Moriarty from all use-of-force cases involving police officers.
The letter claimed Moriarty was incapable of being impartial, stating, “Moriarty’s ongoing public comments about police officers demonstrate a clear bias against law enforcement and a lack of impartiality in her decision-making processes.”
To date, Walz has not indicated whether he will consider taking action on removing Moriarty from those cases.
Jenna Gloeb
Jenna Gloeb is an Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist, media producer, public speaker, and screenwriter. Most recently, she worked as a reporter and on-air host for CCX Media. Jenna is a Minnesota native and resides in the Twin Cities with her husband, son, daughter, and two dogs.
