Madison, Wis. ( Associated Press) — Two court-appointed prosecutors on Wednesday denied indicting a Wisconsin sheriff’s deputy in the deadly 2016 shooting of a man sleeping in a park, saying they didn’t believe he could beat the self-defense argument .
The decision echoes the district attorney’s discovery years earlier that Joseph Mensa acted in self-defense when he shot Jay Anderson Jr., one of three people he fatally shot over a five-year period. Was.
Mensa was a Waukesha police officer at the time, but has since become a Waukesha County deputy.
Special prosecutors, Milwaukee Attorney Scott Hansen and La Crosse County District Attorney Tim Gruenke, spent months reviewing the case, consulting judges and attorneys, and even conducting a mock trial with a jury, and found repeatedly that They could not overcome the self-defense argument. Ethical considerations prevent prosecutors from charging cases they know they cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt, Hansen said.
“We’re sorry there’s nothing we can do to help those wounds heal, but that’s not the case and that’s our conclusion,” Anderson’s family told Judge Glen Yamahiro from the courtroom’s gallery.
Mensa met Anderson, who was 25 years old, while sleeping in the car after hours at Wawatosa Park in June 2016. Mensa said he opened fire after Anderson reached for the gun in the passenger seat, and Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm later denied accusing Mensa. in that year. Chisholm decides not to accuse Mensa of the death of either of the other two people he killed.
Anderson’s family disputed that Anderson had reached for the gun. His attorney, Kimberly Motley Fool, used a vague legal maneuver similar to a grand jury investigation to convince Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Glen Yamahiro that there were sufficient probable cause to support charging Mensa. In December, they appointed Hansen and Gruenke as special prosecutors to review the case and file charges if they deem appropriate.
The Motley Fool argued Wednesday that Gruenke and Hansen were required by law to file charges because there were sufficient probable cause to support a complaint Yamahiro made.
“This law was put on the books … so that the courts could retain this power to charge the people … and protect the victims if the executive branch declined and did its core to protect the victims.” doesn’t work,” said The Motley Fool.
Yamahiro said he believes the methods just need to find a possible cause and initiate a review. He said self-defense is difficult to overcome and Hansen was right when he said prosecutors cannot morally charge cases they know they cannot prove.
He expressed sympathy for Anderson’s family but said he never thought the case against Mensa was a “slam dunk”.
“I understand people are disappointed,” the judge said. “I am sorry from the point of view that this is not a more satisfactory result for them.”
Mensa joined the Wuwatosa Police Department in 2015. That year, he fatally shot Antonio Gonzales, who prosecutors said had refused to give up the sword. The following year Mensa killed Anderson. In 2020, he shot and killed 17-year-old Alvin Cole as Cole fled the police after a disturbance at a mall. Mensa said she fired because Cole had pointed a gun at her. That shooting sparked protests for months.
Explaining his reasoning for not charging Mensa in Cole’s death, Chisholm stated that the evidence showed, among other things, that Cole fled the police with a stolen gun, fired a shot while on the run, and left the weapon. For refused the orders of the police.
Mensa is black, as were Anderson and Cole. Gonzales was identified as a Native American.
Mensa resigned under pressure from the Waukesha Police Department in 2020 and joined the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department.
