Dakota County prosecutors have dismissed charges against a former Minneapolis police officer accused of threatening to shoot his wife in the head the night before his swearing-in ceremony.
Ahmed Jama had been charged with making threats of violence with intent to terrorize, a felony, after authorities said he threatened his wife during an argument at the couple's Apple Valley home on Aug. 1, telling her that he could shoot her and get away with it. In a voluntary statement after his arrest, he told police that the argument had been more of a discussion and denied ever making the threat, court records show.
He was sworn in as a police officer the following day with the rest of his academy class. Jama, who was put on administrative leave after the charges were filed in Dakota County District Court, was fired by the department earlier this winter, according to his attorney, Hillary Parsons, of Minneapolis-based Caplan & Tamburino. But after the charges were dropped, Jama was told that he could reapply for his old job, Parsons said.
"He's planning on still becoming a police officer," she said.
A police spokeswoman said that she couldn't comment on personnel matters.
A Feb. 9 court filing said the charges were dropped in the "interest of justice." The alleged victim's decision to recant her statements to police and refuse to testify put a big dent in the prosecution's case, according to Parsons. Prosecutors still went ahead with the charges by introducing potentially incriminating text and Snapchat messages that Jama's wife sent to friends about the events of that night, but a judge wouldn't allow it because "it was in violation of my client's rights to confront his accusers," Parsons said.
She said her client was relieved by the decision after being "falsely accused."
Jama and the woman remain married, Parsons said.
