A federal judge in Minneapolis on Friday ordered the dismissal of felony assault charges against two Venezuelan men accused of attacking an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, after prosecutors acknowledged that newly discovered evidence undercut key government claims.
The men, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna and Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, were originally charged in connection with a Jan. 14 confrontation where an ICE officer fired a single shot that struck Sosa-Celis in the thigh. Prosecutors had alleged the men struck the officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel during an attempted arrest.
But the U.S. Department of Justice moved to dismiss the case, saying “newly discovered evidence” was “materially inconsistent with the allegations” in the complaint and at a hearing last month. The dismissal was granted with prejudice, meaning the charges cannot be refiled…