Hennepin County District Judge Tamara Garcia did not act Thursday on a former Minneapolis officer's motion to dismiss felony charges stemming from an on-duty crash that killed an innocent motorist.
In October, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office charged Brian Cummings with second-degree manslaughter and criminal vehicular homicide in the death of Leneal Frazier. On July 6, 2021, Cummings was pursuing two teenagers in a stolen car when he crashed into Frazier's vehicle. Cummings has since left the department.
Cummings filed his latest motion to dismiss the charges last week. Family members spoke out Wednesday to urge Garcia not to throw out the charges.
Thursday's brief hearing was spent discussing both the prosecution and the defense's access to documents such as incident reports and Minneapolis police emails.
The attorneys have requested an additional hearing, but the date has not yet been set. In the meantime, Cummings' jury trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 19.
"I hope the rigorous analysis that the court was applying today to discovery leads us to believe that the court sees a future for this case with respect to the trial," said Jeff Storms, an attorney for Frazier's family, at a news conference following the hearing.
He was joined by members of the Frazier family and several police accountability activists.
