By MES Dispatch Staff
The Briefing
- The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal from Ricky Cobb II’s mother, ending a federal lawsuit against Minnesota State Patrol troopers Ryan Londregan and Brett Seide over his July 31, 2023, shooting death.
- The decision leaves in place lower court rulings that found Londregan’s use of deadly force reasonable after Cobb put his car in drive while Seide was leaning inside.
- The appeal argued that federal courts wrongly relied on body camera footage to dismiss the case before the family could gather evidence.
- Londregan was previously charged with second-degree murder, first-degree assault and second-degree manslaughter, but Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty dropped the charges after an outside review.
- Londregan’s attorney, Chris Madel, called the ruling “the end of the road.”
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal in the lawsuit brought by Ricky Cobb II’s mother against two Minnesota State Patrol troopers involved in his fatal shooting, bringing an end to the civil case, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported.
The court’s decision leaves intact rulings by a federal district court and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals that dismissed Nyra Jean Miller-Fields’ claims that troopers Ryan Londregan and Brett Seide violated her son’s Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights through unreasonable seizure and excessive force. Her attorney, Mario Pacella, argued in the petition that courts had wrongly allowed the troopers to use body camera footage, which was outside the complaint and came before discovery, to decide whether to dismiss the case on qualified immunity grounds. A message seeking comment from her attorneys was not immediately returned.
According to court records, Seide stopped Cobb on Interstate 94 in Minneapolis at 1:52 a.m. on July 31, 2023, for driving without headlights, and learned Cobb was wanted in Ramsey County for violating a felony order for protection. After Londregan arrived, the troopers told Cobb to exit the car. Cobb asked whether there was a warrant, and Seide said there was not but that it was a lawful arrest. Cobb put the car in drive as Seide leaned in to reach for his seat belt. Londregan fired twice, and the car accelerated. Cobb could not be resuscitated.
U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel dismissed the lawsuit in 2024, finding Londregan acted reasonably because he feared for Seide’s safety. The Eighth Circuit upheld that ruling, finding video footage contradicted several of the family’s arguments and that the troopers acted lawfully.
The shooting became a political issue in Minnesota after Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty charged Londregan in 2024. Law enforcement officers rallied in his support, and Gov. Tim Walz publicly raised concerns about the handling of the case. Moriarty later dropped the charges after spending more than $570,000 on an outside law firm, saying the decision followed expert analysis and the argument that Londregan feared for Seide’s safety. Cobb’s family criticized that decision, with his mother calling it a “dagger in my back.”
Londregan’s attorney, Chris Madel, said Monday that the ruling was the end of the road and that he continues to blame Moriarty for his client’s legal troubles. The family had sought $25 million from the state of Minnesota in a letter from their attorneys.