Due to a conflict of interest, the fatal shooting of Marcus Golden by St. Paul police last month is being reviewed by the Washington County attorney's office instead of by Ramsey County prosecutors.
Golden, 24, was killed by two St. Paul police officers Jan. 14 after police said he failed to obey orders and drove his vehicle at one of the officers in an apartment building parking lot. Police had been called to the building on the 200 block of University Avenue on a report that Golden was making death threats via text message.
One of the officers involved in the shooting is the son of a management-level employee at the Ramsey County attorney's office, office spokesman Dennis Gerhardstein said on Thursday.
"The Ramsey County attorney's office determined that it had an actual conflict of interest in any review associated with that officer's actions," Gerhardstein said in an e-mail.
On or around Jan. 20, the office requested Washington County prosecutors to step in.
A grand jury eventually reviews an officer-involved shooting to decide whether criminal charges will be filed against an officer.
In a statement, the attorney for Golden's mother said that he is planning on presenting the shooting case to the U.S. Department of Justice to request a civil rights investigation.
Golden's mother, who also serves in the St. Paul police reserves, is "concerned that the [department] has already defended the actions of the officers involved and painted a biased portrait of Marcus, even before completing its own investigation," attorney J. Ashwin Madia said.
