The police chief of Prior Lake testified Monday that the actions of a Washington County deputy who fatally shot a Lake Elmo man last year were justified.
Deputy Brian Krook shot and killed Benjamin W. Evans on April 12, 2018, while responding to a call of a suicidal man with a gun. “Officers made repeated attempts to persuade (Evans) to put down the gun,” according to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which investigated the shooting.
Prior Lake Police Chief Steven Frazer was called to the stand Monday to discuss his interactions with a lead attorney for the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office, who he said contacted him shortly after Ramsey County was asked to review the case. Frazer was serving as chief deputy for the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office at the time.
Ramsey County prosecutors were brought in because of a conflict-of-interest the Washington County Attorney’s Office had with the case.
The case is now proceeding toward trial in Washington County Court after a grand jury indicted Krook with second-degree manslaughter. Krook has pleaded not guilty.
After reviewing the materials provided to him by Ramsey County Attorney Richard Dusterhoft last December, Frazer said he told Dusterhoft that he thought Krook’s actions were justified and reasonable.
He elaborated about this from the witness stand, saying the deputy was facing an “armed person who was not following the directions” of law enforcement at the time, making his decision to shoot “reasonable,” and “justified” under the circumstances.
MOTION TO DISMISS
Frazer’s opinion should have been shared with the grand jury when the prosecution presented its case to them, Krook’s defense attorney, Paul Engh, said during the hearing before Sherburne County District Judge Mary Yunker. Engh said the conversation amounted to exculpatory evidence that could have cleared Krook of wrongdoing in the eyes of the grand jury.
Engh argued further that the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office engaged in misconduct and should be disqualified it from prosecuting the case. Krook’s defense filed a motion with the court stating as much, along with a motion to dismiss the case on similar grounds.
Prosecuting attorney Tom Hatch disputed that assertion during the hearing, telling the judge that the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office never retained Frazer to serve as an expert for the state’s case, so it wasn’t obligated to present Frazer’s perspective to the grand jury.
The state did provide information to the grand jury on the opinions of the two use-of-force experts it did retain, both of whom found Krook’s conduct conduct unjustified.
Hatch added that the prosecution needs to be given leeway as it seeks out expert testimony as some opinions might prove biased, or be based on insufficient information.
Dusterhoft, the Ramsey County attorney, was also called to testify Monday, and he offered a different recollection of his interaction with Frazer. He said he contacted Frazer to see if Frazer could suggest names of use-of-force experts who could weigh in on the police tactics deployed at the scene.
He said he wasn’t after an opinion from Frazer, whom he has known for years from Frazer’s days working for the St. Paul Police Department, and said he never asks licensed peace officers in Minnesota to render opinions on police conduct cases because of the potential conflict-of-interest.
While Frazer did end up sharing his take on the case, Dusterhoft said he didn’t give it much thought afterward as Frazer wasn’t given all of the evidence — including an enhanced video of the shooting — because the state was still working to get it from investigators.
He added that he never shared Frazer’s analysis with his colleagues, and only recalled it when Frazer called him after learning of the grand jury’s indictment.
Frazer disputed Dusterhoft’s narrative, saying Dusterhoft had clearly solicited an opinion from him and then tried to “walk it back” after Frazer challenged his decision not to share it with the grand jury along with the other expert testimony.
He remarked that Dusterhoft’s actions seemed “slippery.”
The judge took the motions under advisement and is expected to make a decision in the next several weeks after both sides have time to file additional briefs.
NIGHT OF THE SHOOTING
Other details about what happened that night, as well as Evans’ mental state at the time, also came out during the hearing.
Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Andrew Johnson, who is working alongside Hatch for the prosecution, asked Frazer to read from two suicide notes Evans’ wrote before the shooting. One was written to his parents, and the other to first-responders.
The latter ended with, “You have the watch from here, my friends.”
The notes supported Frazer’s assessment of the events, Frazer told the court, explaining that they indicated Evans, an emergency medical technician, chose to pursue “suicide by cop” that night.
Johnson pushed back, challenging Frazer’s interpretation of the notes because neither explicitly said Evans wanted to be shot by police. Johnson also said there was evidence that Evans had cooperated to some degree before the shooting as he agreed to empty his magazine — leaving the potential of only one bullet left in his gun — and repeatedly told law enforcement on-scene that he didn’t intend to hurt any of them.
Johnson also said there was cover available to Krook that he didn’t use, including a police squad car and a bunker, and suggested his shots at Evans came in rounds, the first from farther away and then from closer range.
He indicated that the experts retained by the state concluded it was reckless for Krook to approach Evans before firing the second shots as he knew Evans was still armed.
Frazer disagreed with that assessment, and said law enforcement is trained to attempt to render aid when they know someone has been shot, adding that it was only when Evans’ “arm made a clear arc” as Krook got closer to him that the deputy started firing at him a second time.
Johnson suggested Evan’s arm was actually going limp at the time.
The indictment against Krook says he “created an unreasonable risk, and consciously took the chance of causing death or great bodily harm to another.”
His trial is expected to take place in March.