Metro Surge shootings: Feds stop sharing evidence with MN investigators

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A new pause in federal cooperation is again slowing Minnesota's review of the shooting deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, and the shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis.

Federal evidence sharing stalls again

According to court documents filed in federal court Tuesday, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty and Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said, even after a brief period of cooperation this summer, they have not received all evidence related to three federal officer-involved shootings during Operation Metro Surge.

Local perspective:

Federal authorities barred state investigators from entering and gathering evidence at the Operation Metro Surge shooting scenes of Alex Pretti, Renee Good and Julio Sosa-Celis. While, according to court documents, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Hennepin County Attorney's Office have been doing their own investigations into the federal ICE and border patrol agents involved in the shooting with the evidence they do have, the two agencies have also been trying to get the federal evidence. The state eventually sued the federal government over the lack of access.

On March 25, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a news conference, "The lawsuit today challenging the categorical withholding of all evidence from a state for criminal investigation is unprecedented in American history."

Timeline:

According to new filings in that lawsuit, the U.S. Department of Justice first argued that sharing information would interfere with ongoing federal investigations into the shootings. But then in June, after negotiations through counsel, Drew Evans wrote in his affidavit that the federal government eventually agreed to "share information and collaborate" on the three shooting investigations.

On July 13, Moriarty and Evans made the announcement to the press.

"Through the cooperation of our federal partners, we have obtained the hard drives of previously withheld evidence," Moriarty said. "I'm told we have the body cam evidence. But this is voluminous. This is hours and hours and hours of video. And so we are in the process of going through that."

Critical evidence still withheld

According to the court documents, federal authorities over the summer turned over Renee Good's vehicle, the gun of the agent who shot Good and body camera video from all three shootings. The filings also say the state is sharing evidence it collected from other sources with federal investigators as both sides review the material.

What's next:

The BCA now says that cooperation has stopped again. According to the filings, federal authorities are still withholding key evidence, including the gun used to shoot Pretti, the agents' cellphones and the agents' recorded statements.

Moriarty wrote in the court record that U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen attributed the current pause in information sharing to "challenges with D.C."

What we don't know:

Moriarty's office says it has no updates on potential charges for the federal agents involved in the shootings of Good and Pretti.

The U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to FOX 9's questions about what those challenges are or when information sharing might resume. The Department of Homeland Security also has not commented on the evidence-sharing process or the ongoing investigations.

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