Judge lifts order requiring investigators to preserve evidence in fatal shooting of Pretti
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A court order requiring federal investigators to preserve evidence in the Alex Pretti fatal shooting has been lifted.
U.S. District Court Judge Eric Tostrud said Monday he has dissolved his prior restraining order in a lawsuit filed by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. The BCA sued federal agencies and officials seeking to prevent destruction of evidence in the Jan. 24 shooting by federal agents operating in Minneapolis.
"If I’m correct that Defendants are not likely to spoliate or destroy evidence related to Mr. Pretti’s shooting, it follows that Plaintiffs are not likely to suffer irreparable harm caused by spoliation or destruction,” Tostrud wrote in his order Monday. “If I’m wrong about that and spoliation is assumed, irreparable harm seems likely, but it is not certain.”
Tostrud said comments by White House and other top federal officials assigning a malicious motivation to Pretti were “troubling” but shouldn’t be seen as impugning the integrity of trained investigators.
“They reflect, not a genuine interest in learning the truth, but snap judgments informed by speculation and motivated by political partisanship,” he wrote of the comments, while adding that so far he has seen no indication those officials are directly involved in the investigation.
The judge also said there is no indication that authorities have failed to properly maintain evidence. The FBI is now taking the investigative lead. A separate state probe is also being conducted.
— Brian Bakst, MPR News
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