The headline read, "Frey says bodycam footage 'galling'" (front page, Oct. 8).
And it was. But equally "galling" is that the Hennepin County Attorney's Office charged Jaleel Stallings with attempted murder and assault. The 29-year-old African American Army veteran rejected a plea deal from prosecutors that included a nearly 13-year prison term.
The prosecutors saw the video — so why did they pursue criminal charges against Stallings?
It would seem that how this decision was reached and what it might reflect about attitudes and competency of the department's leadership need evaluation. Mayor Jacob Frey's and City Council President Lisa Bender's responses focused on the police involved. Why were the transgressive actions of the prosecutors not censured in a similar fashion?
Paul H. Bearmon, Edina
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With both Mary Moriarty and Ryan Winkler vying to replace Mike Freeman as Hennepin County attorney, there is hope that a new county attorney will end the ridiculous waste of time and money that has gone on under Freeman's watch with prosecutors starting jury trials without having necessary witnesses. It happens so frequently and again just this week — though the prosecutor doesn't have necessary witnesses, a jury is assembled on Monday, questioned for two days, and then dismissed on Wednesday because the prosecutor still doesn't have necessary witnesses. Such a colossal waste of time and of money — there are plenty of cases ready for trial that are delayed because of this foolishness, and justice delayed is justice denied. No one's interests are served — not the courts, the attorneys, the citizens — by having to go through the motions of selecting a jury when the prosecutor doesn't have witnesses and evidence. A new county attorney will hopefully recognize this waste, because Mike Freeman hasn't figured it out in six terms.
Bryan J. Leary, Minnetonka
