Minnesota Trooper Ryan Londregan in court for significant hearing

Ricky Cobb II shooting: In-depth look at the case

FOX 9's Paul Blume and Amy Hockert go in-depth on the Ricky Cobb II shooting case.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Minnesota State Trooper charged with murder in the shooting death of Ricky Cobb II, during a traffic stop in 2023, appeared in court Monday morning for a hearing that could have a significant impact on the future of this case.

During the hearing, the defense for Ryan Londregan explained to Judge Tamara Garcia why they think the criminal charges should be dismissed. Meanwhile, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty’s office assembled a new prosecution team for the case.

Several law enforcement organizations claim Moriarty ignored testimony from use-of-force experts when deciding to charge Londregan. They are asking Gov. Tim Walz to reassign the case to the Attorney General’s office.

New attorneys hired in Minnesota trooper trial

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office has announced it has hired a team of out-of-state prosecutors to lead the case against Minnesota State Trooper Ryan Londregan on charges of murdering Ricky Cobb II during a traffic stop in 2023.

Londregan arrives at court to applause

Members of law enforcement were at the courthouse in the morning rallying to show their support for the State Trooper, who they say should never have been charged. A separate rally is also expected in support of Cobb’s family, who filed a civil lawsuit earlier this month.

A significant number of people lined the entrance of the courthouse on Monday morning and greeted Londregan with cheers and applause as he made his way to the hearing.

Trooper Londregan enters courthouse to applause

Minnesota State Trooper Ryan Londregan,. charged with murder in the shooting of Ricky Cobb II, enters the courthouse in Hennepin County to a round of applause, shaking hands with law enforcement who came out to show their support

Londregan is charged with second-degree unintentional murder, second-degree manslaughter, and first-degree assault in connection to the July 31, 2023, shooting. These charges came nearly six months after the fatal shooting and followed calls from Cobb’s family for the firing and charging of Londregan.

New prosecution team

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office announced on Monday that it is using a team of former federal prosecutors from the law firm Steptoe LLP to assist in the case. The prosecutors will be deputized special assistant county attorneys, according to a press release.

"Our goal in this case, as in every case, is to achieve a just process and outcome, public transparency, and accountability for the harm that has been caused," Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement. "It is clear this case will be extremely resource intensive and will involve extensive litigation prior to trial. These former federal prosecutors with impeccable credentials will be singularly focused on this case while the rest of our team continues the critical work of prosecuting the high volume of other serious cases that are central to safety in our community."

The team of attorneys includes Karima Maloney, Michael R. Bromwich, Ryan Poscablo, and Steven Levin. The HCAO added the funds used to hire the prosecutors will be from the existing budget.

How much are the new prosecutors charging?

Legal experts say the price tag of hiring outside counsel will get steep quickly.

Former U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger says Moriarty’s choice to hire private attorneys will be costly. He estimates each attorney charges upwards of $500 an hour, plus the cost of travel since the attorneys are east-coast based.

"She is obviously willing to spend whatever money is required – and it will be a lot – in order to get a conviction," said Heffelfinger.

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said it intends to pay for these resources through the existing budget, without burdening taxpayers with additional expenses. FOX 9 asked a spokesperson what they intend to cut to make room for the new expenditure but did not hear back.

Heffelfinger said by the end of the trial, the bill will easily be seven figures. He says if they were determined to use outside counsel, he questions why they did not go with someone local to cut back on cost.

"There are many former US Attorneys in the state of Minnesota who could have stepped in and done this case and done it very well and probably done it for a lot less money," he said.

Defense seeks HCAO emails

The hearing, which lasted more than two hours, started with the defense motions seeking all communications between the Hennepin County Attorney's Office, the media, the Cobb family, community activists, and Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison. They argued the defense is entitled to all of it, which the state opposes.

Londregan defense attorney Chris Madel said he has an email from a "county employee" source saying prosecutor Josh Larson signed an agreement with the Hennepin County Attorney's Office to not disparage the prosecution of Trooper Londregan in exchange for being allowed to step away from the case. Chris Freeman, representing the state for Monday's hearing only, said Madel's argument is an attempt to "get clicks." As far as he knows, it doesn't exist.

"I don’t care what drama is going on at the Hennpin County Attorney's Office, I simply want the documents," Madel argued. "That’s it."

Judge rejects motion to dismiss charges

Londregan's defense then argued for the charges to be dismissed. At the very least, they want a hearing where the judge could rule that there is a justified use-of-force defense claim and save Londregan from going on trial.

Defense attorney Peter Wold said Trooper Londregan will testify that he "only acted to protect Trooper Brett Seide and himself," adding that his intention was never to just stop Cobb's car from fleeing – it was done in self-protection and defense of his partner.

Judge Garcia rejected one of several defense motions to dismiss the murder charge based on Supreme Court legal grounds.

What they're saying

"We're asking to get a prosecutor that cares about facts more than they do about yelling and more than they do about the BS kind of justice that they think that they're meeting out here," Madel said after the hearing.

"We need justice," said Cobb's sister, Octavia Ruffin. "That's not right. This is not okay for our community. We should not be afraid to drive in our community. We should not be afraid to speak to the police. We should not be afraid to be in our own community."