MINNEAPOLIS, MN – The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office (HCAO) said that they are seeking diversion instead of criminal charges for the man who has been accused of causing $20,000 in damage to six Tesla’s in an act of protest against the electric car company.
According to FOX5, in an initial statement, the DA said that they were prioritizing restitution for the victims in making the decision. HCAO spokesperson Daniel Borgertoepping said, “Our main priorities are to secure restitution for the victims and hold Mr. Adams accountable. As a result, we will file for pre-charge diversion to best facilitate both of those goals.”
He added, “This is an approach taken in many property crime cases and helps to ensure the individual keeps their job and can pay restitution as well as reducing the likelihood of repeat offenses. Criminal prosecution remains a possibility should unlawful behavior continue.”
HCAO Mary Moriarty said that politics was not a factor when prosecutors made the decision to not bring criminal charges against 33-year-old Dylan Adams, who is an employee of the State of Minnesota for the Department of Human Services. HCAO has faced a lot of criticism from both the Minneapolis Police Chief and a fellow prosecutor for the decision not to criminally charge the suspect.
Chief Brian O’Hara said in a statement:
“The Minneapolis Police Department did its job. It identified and investigated a crime trend, identified, and arrested a suspect, and presented a case file to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for consideration of charges. This case impacted at least six different victims and totaled over $20,000 in damages.
Any frustration related to the charging decision of the Hennepin County Attorney should be directed solely at her office. Our investigators are always frustrated when the cases they poured their hearts into are declined. In my experience, the victims in these cases often feel the same.”
State Rep. Kristin Robbins (R-Maple Grove) said:
“This is just another example where she has declined to prosecute. She’s taken an oath to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law, and I’m very concerned that, repeatedly, she’s not takin her oath seriously.” Speaking with reporters, Moriarty said that the decision was made in the “best interest of public safety.”
She argued that for someone with no record, a felony conviction can send them down the wrong road. She said:
“If they go through the traditional system, and they have a felony conviction on their record, they are much more likely to come back and commit a new crime. That is because a felony conviction destabilizes their lives. They may lose their job, lose their housing, and it can just lead to future criminal activity. What does work, and the recidivism rates are much, much lower, is diversion. And that’s been proven over and over here and throughout the country.”
Moriarty added that diversion is the tactic they use for most property damage cases when the suspect doesn’t have a criminal record. She said:
“This person did not have a record. For most property offenders, without a record, they do to diversion … I had a conversation with somebody who wanted to know why we made this decision. And I said, this is how we handle first time, low-level property cases. Should we have treated this gentleman differently because it’s become a political issue? We seek, and I’ve said this over and over in my term, not to make decisions that are not about politics. So, we made this decision because it is in the best interest of public safety.”
Now, according to PJ Media, Moriarty and her office are under investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) for taking the defendant’s race into consideration in the plea negotiations.
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillion said that the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division will review whether policies in HCAO under Moriarty have “constituted a pattern of practice of depriving persons of rights, privileges or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States.”
Moriarty’s office recently released a memo directing prosecutors to consider a defendant’s racial identity among other factors when evaluating whether a defendant should be offered a plea deal. The memo reportedly reads:
“While racial identity and age are not appropriate grounds for departures [from the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines], proposed resolutions should consider the person charged as a whole person, including their racial identity and age … While these factors should not be controlling, they should be part of the overall analysis.”
The DOJ has called the policy “discriminatory” and Dhillion’s office will review practices that may involve the illegal consideration of race in prosecutorial decision-making. In 2023, Moriarty made headlines when she refused to sentence a 35-year-old man after he raped his 14-year-old cousin. She also wanted to charge two teens who brutally murdered 23-year-old Zaria McKeever as minors, but the Minnesota attorney general overruled her.
