Special counsel hired by Moriarty bills $578K for work in Londregan case; firm's analysis released

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty made public Friday the analysis and $578,000 cost to taxpayers for the law firm she hired to prosecute trooper Ryan Londregan that instead helped persuade her to drop the case.

Moriarty got the Hennepin County Board's OK in April to hire Washington D.C.-based law firm Steptoe LLP to take over the case after the lead attorney from her office stepped aside. The unusual contract with an international firm for a criminal case had an initial $1 million cap and required monthly invoices.

In June, Moriarty announced she was dropping murder and manslaughter charges against Londregan in the shooting death of Ricky Cobb II last summer. She said a new analysis of the evidence, statements from Londregan's attorney and a recommendation from Steptoe lawyers convinced her to drop the charges.

Moriarty's office released two invoices Friday afternoon from Steptoe totaling 733 hours worth of work since April at a cost of $578,321, in response to a public records request.

In a statement, a Moriarty spokesperson said Steptoe's expertise handling complex litigation was necessary for the case and the firm highlighted "recommendations for fixing systemic issues that we hope will be taken seriously."

"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," the statement said.

Earlier this week, the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association (MPPOA) and former GOP Minnesota Attorney General candidate Jim Schultz filed an ethics complaint against Moriarty accusing her of prosecutorial misconduct.

In a statement, Moriarty dismissed the complaint as unsurprising and said the MPPOA has "consistently lobbied against attempts to hold law enforcement accountable."

Moriarty's office also released the entire report that was prepared by Steptoe on Friday afternoon. The officially titled "Special Prosecutors' Report and Recommendations in State v. Ryan Patrick Londregan" is 858 pages long with a 69-page report and hundreds of pages of exhibits.

The report notes that grand jury materials and testimony the state had argued should be disclosed to the public are not included because the court denied that request.

"I believe it's still important to release as much of this information as we can," Moriarty said in a statement about the report. "Such transparency is key to creating community trust. The family of Ricky Cobb II deserves this transparency, as does the larger community."

In June, an executive summary of the report was released and the complete version highlights the same conclusions and recommendations — namely that there was "insufficient evidence to defeat Trooper Londregan's affirmative defense that the shooting was justified."

It also states that recommendation was based on testimony and information that came to light after Moriarty had initially charged Londregan with second-degree murder, manslaughter and assault in the fatal shooting of Cobb last July during a traffic stop on Interstate 94 in north Minneapolis.

After Moriarty announced she was dropping the case against Londregan, a representative of Cobb's family said they could not be more disappointed in prosecutors. The Cobb family is now suing Londregan and trooper Brett Seide for their roles in the shooting.

It is unusual, but not unprecedented, for outside prosecutors to handle high-profile criminal cases. Attorney General Keith Ellison had outside counsel who worked pro bono to prosecute Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd.

The Ramsey County Attorney's Office hired one outside lawyer to assist with prosecuting St. Anthony Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez. He was acquitted of manslaughter in the killing of motorist Philando Castile.

Star Tribune staff writers Andy Mannix and Liz Sawyer contributed to this story.