# Washington County grand jury *A county grand jury whose charging decisions in two police killings, from 2015 and 2019, appear in the Minnesota at-issue record.* A Washington County grand jury appears in the Minnesota record in two charging decisions on killings by law officers. The first was a decision, announced May 21, 2015, not to charge in the St. Paul police killing of Marcus Golden.[^1] The second was a July 19, 2019 indictment of a Washington County [[sheriff]]'s deputy, Brian Krook, for second-degree manslaughter in a 2018 on-duty shooting.[^2] A trial jury acquitted Krook in March 2020.[^3] In April 2025 the county approved a $4.5 million civil resolution of the shooting, which it stated was not an admission of liability.[^4] The documented outputs of the two decisions are one no-charge outcome, one indictment, no conviction, and a $4.5 million payment.[^1][^3][^4] The record does not establish what evidence either grand jury heard, what instructions it received, or why it voted as it did, and this article does not infer them.[^1][^2] ## Who Both decisions were made by a grand jury in Washington County, [[Minnesota]].[^1][^2] The project's at-issue record places the 2015 decision within a referral arrangement and describes its outcome as "the referral system's output", not as one official's record. It identifies the [[county attorney]] only as the official an activist addressed in 2021 and does not name him.[^7] The defendant in the 2019 indictment was Deputy Brian Krook of the Washington County Sheriff's Office.[^2] ## What In 2015 the grand jury reviewed the St. Paul police killing of Marcus Golden and returned no charges.[^1] In 2019 it indicted Krook for second-degree manslaughter in the on-duty killing of a suicidal on-call firefighter.[^2] CBS Minnesota reported at the time that Krook was "the third Minnesota law officer charged in an on-duty killing in recent years".[^5] A jury found him not guilty on March 19, 2020.[^3] The criminal case ended in acquittal. The civil matter ended with the county paying $4.5 million. The county's stated position was that the payment was not an admission of liability.[^3][^4] ## When - May 21, 2015: announcement that the grand jury declined to charge in the Golden killing.[^1] - July 19, 2019: the grand jury indicts Krook, as reported by CBS Minnesota.[^2] - March 19, 2020: a jury acquits Krook.[^3] - April 15, 2025: approval of a $4.5 million civil resolution, stated by the county not to be an admission of liability.[^4] ## How much CBS Minnesota reported that the $4.5 million resolution approved on April 15, 2025 was paid as $2 million from the Minnesota Counties Intergovernmental Trust and $2.5 million from the county.[^6] ## How many Two grand jury decisions by this body appear in the at-issue record: one declination to charge (2015) and one indictment (2019).[^1][^2] As of July 2019, CBS Minnesota counted Krook as the third Minnesota officer charged in an on-duty killing in recent years. The at-issue record gives the same count as one of only three officers then charged.[^5] ## In the at-issue record **2015 (AI-Washington-037).** The entry records the grand jury's declination in the Golden killing, announced May 21, 2015.[^1] It further records that six years later an activist stood on the county attorney's lawn and told him, "your track record is zero when it comes to prosecuting killer cops." The entry characterizes this as a description of the referral system's output. Its primary anchor is a December 4, 2020 release of the Minnesota Attorney General's Office. The project cites that release as the primary record that the arrangement was standing practice, not an exception.[^7] **2019–2025 (AI-Washington-038).** The entry records the indictment, the March 2020 acquittal, and the April 2025 payment of $4.5 million without admission of liability.[^2][^3][^4] Its primary anchor is Minnesota Statutes chapter 387. The project cites that chapter as the source of the county's own law-enforcement authority, the institution the entry places at issue.[^8] ## Notes [^1]: MPR News, report on the Washington County grand jury in the Marcus Golden shooting (May 21, 2015) — the grand jury reviewed the St. Paul police killing of Marcus Golden and returned no charges. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/05/21/grand-jury-clears-st-paul-officers-in-fatal-shooting [^2]: CBS Minnesota, *Minnesota Deputy Indicted In 2018 Fatal Shooting* (July 2019) — a Washington County grand jury indicted Deputy Brian Krook for second-degree manslaughter on July 19, 2019. https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/minnesota-deputy-indicted-in-2018-fatal-shooting/ [^3]: MPR News, report on the verdict in the Krook trial (Mar. 19, 2020) — a jury found the Washington County deputy not guilty. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2020/03/19/jury-finds-washington-county-deputy-not-guilty-in-2018-shooting-death [^4]: CBS Minnesota, report on the Washington County shooting settlement (April 2025) — a $4.5 million civil resolution was approved on April 15, 2025, with no admission of liability. https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/benjamin-evans-washington-county-shooting-settlement [^5]: CBS Minnesota, *Minnesota Deputy Indicted In 2018 Fatal Shooting* (July 2019) — Krook described as "the third Minnesota law officer charged in an on-duty killing in recent years". https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/minnesota-deputy-indicted-in-2018-fatal-shooting/ [^6]: CBS Minnesota, report on the Washington County shooting settlement (April 2025) — $2 million from the Minnesota Counties Intergovernmental Trust and $2.5 million from the county. https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/benjamin-evans-washington-county-shooting-settlement [^7]: Office of the Minnesota Attorney General, communications release (Dec. 4, 2020) — the primary anchor of at-issue entry AI-Washington-037 for the referral arrangement. https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Office/Communications/2020/12/04_PoliceShooting.asp [^8]: Minnesota Revisor of Statutes, *Minnesota Statutes, chapter 387* — the statute on county law-enforcement authority cited as the anchor of at-issue entry AI-Washington-038. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/387