Choi urges defense of prosecutorial independence

Ramsey County Attorney John Choi recently exhorted lawyers to protect the independence of prosecutors and also educate the public on its importance.

Current controversy, including threats, over prosecutorial decisions dates back to 2014, when a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, shot Michael Brown, 18. Some peaceful protest became violent. After that, attitudes toward police and prosecutors changed, Choi said.

The American Bar Association formed a task force on for prosecutorial independence in 2014, which Choi co-chaired and which he discussed at the Minnesota bar convention in June.  Now, more people are paying attention to prosecutors, Choi said.

Prosecutors must adhere to professional standards, Choi noted.

“Even though we are elected, we can’t be partisan,” he said, noting that the ABA and several other organizations have published best practices guidelines.

“Our primary role is not to act for victims.  We have an obligation to everybody, including the defendant,” Choi said, noting that those obligations have become complicated.

“Sometimes  a prosecutor may decide not to charge an offense,” Choi continued. “Sometimes practical considerations drive the prosecutor’s actions.” Those considerations include an office’s limited resources and other priorities of the office, which may include cases involving juveniles, he said.

“I’m not here to tell you that prosecutors can do anything,” Choi said. The issue is “suitable guardrails,” he continued.

One of the guardrails is Minn. Stat. sec. 8.01, which allows a county attorney to request the attorney general to step in. The statute also allows the governor to remove a county attorney.

At this point, Choi displayed on screen photos of Attorney General Keith Ellison, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty and Governor Tim Walz. In 2023, Walz removed Moriarty after she offered plea deals to two juveniles. In 2024, the county’s murder charge against a highway patrol officer was controversial. The case was dropped but some sources said that was due to Walz’s influence.

The governor should act carefully when removing a county attorney, Choi said. If the governor uses it too often is like opening pandora’s box, he said. “It should be done with  sense of balance.”

Sidebar

At the Minnesota State Bar Association convention, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi introduced written materials for his CLE seminar, some of which  cited other publications. The following paragraph was in his written materials for the CLE on prosecutorial independence. The paragraph did not cite to any other written material. Choi wrote:

“Removal of prosecutors and review of their discretion should be based upon rules that are neutrally applicable and the product of pre-election legislation, not a new rule set developed in response to a specific incident or question. More importantly, as a general rule, politically motivated review of prosecutorial discretion is a greater threat to the rule of law than the exercise of that discretion, even in situations where the prosecutor’s decision is suspect, and such political review should be used only in the rarest of circumstances.”