MINNEAPOLIS _ Reacting Monday to emails and phone calls to his office demanding the immediate prosecution of the Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot Justine Ruszczyk Damond last month, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said it should be able to decide by the end of the year whether charges will be filed.
"We have received some emails and phone calls from members of the community demanding that we charge the officer immediately and ascribing all kinds of nefarious reasons as to why we haven't done so," Freeman said in a statement detailing where the case stands. "The truth is, we are following the same procedure we have with the three previous officer-involved shootings."
Freeman added he has "no way of knowing how long the investigation and review will take. Usually from the time of the officer firing the shot until our office's announcement of a decision, four to six months have elapsed. I fully expect a decision in this case before the end of 2017."
In an interview, Freeman used the November 2015 fatal shooting in Minneapolis of Jamar Clark to illustrate a time line for officer-involved shootings.
"Jamar Clark was shot on Nov.15, I got the case around Feb. 15, four months later, and I declined to charge it six weeks later," he said. "Damond was killed less than two months ago, so that isn't half the time it took for Jamar Clark."
Freeman emphasized that he especially wants to take his time in cases that are "this high profile" such as this one.
He then pointed to the time taken by John Choi, his counterpart in Ramsey County, and his handling of the case against the police officer who shot and killed Philando Castile in July 2016.
"Choi did his in the same time that I did Jamar Clark," Freeman said.
Looking ahead to the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's investigation of the Damond shooting by officer Mohamed Noor behind the woman's south Minneapolis home, Freeman said, "If they get it to us anytime in the month of September, I think that's an expedited process," Freeman said, adding that he would send it back to the BCA if the case isn't "done thoroughly."
The practice in Hennepin County had been for a grand jury to decide whether officers would be charged in these types of cases. Freeman broke with that precedent starting with Clark's death, and he continues to have his office decide whether to charge. In Clark's case, the two officers involved were not prosecuted.
"We will follow that practice in this case," Freeman's statement continued. "So, once the file is turned over to our office, I will thoroughly review the investigation with several of our most senior prosecutors and make a decision."
