Star Tribune
Rare officer v. officer lawsuit over Hennepin County K9 mauling ordered thrown out by federal appeals court
A rare excessive force lawsuit pitting Minnesota law enforcement officers against each other after one officer was mauled by another’s K-9 must be dismissed, a federal appeals court ruled this week.
A three-judge panel from the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals sided with Hennepin County Sheriff’s Deputy Keith McNamara in his bid to dismiss a civil suit filed against him last year by a former Champlin police officer attacked by McNamara’s K-9 as the two pursued a suspect together.
Daniel Irish, who now works as a police officer in Brooklyn Park, had alleged that McNamara did not warn others that he had released the K-9 named Thor as police tracked a suspect who had led them on a pursuit into Osseo in March 2022. Irish sued over his Fourth Amendment right to be free from excessive force and unreasonable seizure.
U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery in August 2023 denied McNamara’s request to dismiss the complaint after he argued that he was entitled to qualified immunity. Montgomery noted that the mauling was a “highly unfortunate accident” but concluded that it was “clearly established” that a seizure occurred within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. Irish had argued that McNamara willfully deployed Thor during the pursuit and “objectively intended for him to bite the first person he encountered.”
McNamara countered that he did not “subjectively” intend to seize Irish and that because “the law is unclear as to whether subjective or objective intent should be considered,” it was not clearly established that Thor’s bite was a seizure. The Eighth Circuit panel this week agreed with McNamara and reversed Montgomery’s ruling. The lawsuit now goes back to Montgomery with instructions from the appellate court to dismiss.
Megan Larson, a spokesperson for the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office said Friday that the office was “satisfied with the court’s decision and we have no further comment.”
Irish’s attorneys said he still suffers from the effects of C. difficile and other gastrointestinal ailments brought on by antibiotics taken to treat a deep skin infection caused by Thor’s attack.
“Officer Irish did exemplary policework that day,” said Andrew Noel, an attorney representing Irish. “He is disappointed by the court’s ruling but he continues to serve the people of Brooklyn Park every day.”
Writing for a panel that included Judges Ralph Erickson and Duane Benton, Judge Jonathan Kobes concluded that this case “fits best in the unintended-target line of cases.”
McNamara commanded Thor to go after the fleeing suspect less than a minute before the dog bit Irish. He repeatedly ordered Thor to disengage from Irish and refocused the K9 toward the suspect.
“All told, we cannot say that it was ‘sufficiently clear that every reasonable official [in Deputy McNamara’s shoes] would understand’ that he acted unlawfully — or even within the scope of the Fourth Amendment. Contrary to Officer Irish’s warning, our decision today does not mean that one police officer could never seize another,” Kobes wrote in the 9-page ruling. “We hold only that it was not clearly established as of March 2022 that an officer in Minnesota could seize a fellow officer with a K9 without subjectively intending to do so.”
The ruling was the second order issued this week from an appellate court regarding a police K-9 attack. On Wednesday, the Minnesota Supreme Court ordered that the State Patrol can be sued for liability after an unprovoked attack by one of its K-9s on an Owatonna car dealership employee, saying that qualified immunity for the agency does not apply under the state’s dog bite statute.
Kevin Ulmer, head coach of the Bemidji State University women’s volleyball team for nine seasons, has died after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 41.
Ulmer died Tuesday afternoon surrounded by his family, according to an announcement from the school.
“We are heartbroken to lose our colleague, our coach, and our friend Kevin Ulmer,” Bemidji State Director of Athletics Britt Lauritsen said in a statement.
Friday’s match at University of Minnesota Crookston has been canceled, the school said.
Ulmer came to Bemidji State in 2016 after serving as head volleyball coach at Bethel College (Ind.) for four seasons and earlier as an assistant coach at Georgetown College (Ky.).
He graduated from Northwestern College (Iowa) in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education and health education, and earned his master’s degree in biomechanics and exercise physiology at the University of Kentucky.
Since taking over the program in 2016, 30 of his players have earned Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference All-Academic Team honors
He also coached two All-NSIC selections, Jessica Yost and Rylie Bjerklie, in one of the toughest volleyball conferences in NCAA Div. II.
An Edina man who chaired the board of the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal wire fraud charges for his role in the Feeding Our Future nutrition program fraud scheme.
As part of his plea deal, Sharmarke Issa, 42, admitted to running entities that laundered federal funding as part of the scheme, including Wacan Restaurant LLC and the nonprofit titled Minnesota’s Somali Community.
Issa was responsible for $7.6 million of the alleged $50 million in fraud scheme money that the U.S. government says it lost, Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Ebert read aloud in court to Issa. The defendant verbally confirmed the timeline and allegations in the plea deal.
Prior to the hearing in District Court in downtown Minneapolis, Issa’s attorney Thomas Brever said his client recognized that his conduct was wrong.
“He’s ready to take the consequences for what he did.,” Brever said. “After seeing the evidence in the other trial, he recognized there was a real likelihood of conviction.”
Issa was facing multiple other counts of wire fraud and money laundering that will be dismissed if he receives the plea deal. While maximum imprisonment for federal wire fraud can be 20 years, Issa will likely receive between two years and nine months and three years and five months of federal prison time.
The prison time would be followed by a probation period for up to three years, U.S. District Judge Nancy E. Brasel said during the hearing.
Prosecutors have called this case, which so far has 70 defendants charged in Minnesota, one of the largest pandemic-era fraud cases in the United States. The defendants are charged with stealing $250 million from federal food programs that were reimbursing nonprofits, schools and day cares for feeding low-income children.
Many factors contribute to the total size of a college bill, but there’s no question the costs of a higher education have rapidly escalated. This week, Bethel University announced it would cut its undergraduate tuition by $18,000 a year as they move toward new pricing methodologies.
Scholarships, discounts and other financial incentives reduce college bills for many students, while expenses including room and board and study materials add to them. With that in mind, according to a chart published annually by Minnesota’s Office of Higher Education, these are the 10 most expensive colleges in Minnesota based on tuition and fees. The state has not released its 2024-25 prices, so the most recent state-published chart is from 2023-24:
