Joseph Mensah not charged after new look at 2016 shooting

MILWAUKEE - Two court-appointed prosecutors declined Wednesday to charge a Wisconsin sheriff’s deputy in the 2016 fatal shooting of a man sleeping in a park.

The decision validates a district attorney’s finding years ago that Joseph Mensah had acted in self-defense when he shot Jay Anderson Jr., one of three people he fatally shot over a five-year span.

Mensah was a Wauwatosa police officer at the time but has since become a Waukesha County deputy.

The special prosecutors, Milwaukee attorney Scott Hansen and La Crosse County District Attorney Tim Gruenke, said they wouldn't be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mensah committed a crime and that his use of deadly force was reasonable.

"We have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Mensah was not exercising his right to self-defense when he shot him," said Hansen. "If we can't prove that unanimously to a Milwaukee jury beyond a reasonable doubt, then we cannot convict him of a crime."

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Mensah came upon Anderson, who was 25, sleeping in a car after hours in a Wauwatosa park in June 2016. Mensah said he fired after Anderson reached for a gun on the passenger seat, and Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm declined to charge Mensah later that year. Chisholm also chose not to charge Mensah in the deaths of either of the other two people he killed.

Anderson’s family disputed that Anderson had reached for the gun and their attorney used an obscure legal maneuver similar to a grand jury inquiry to persuade Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Glenn Yamahiro that there was enough probable cause to support charging Mensah. In December, he appointed Hansen and Gruenke as special prosecutors to review the case and file charges if they saw fit.

Hansen and Gruenke said any trial would hinge on video and the few silent moments before Mensah opened fire on Anderson and that Anderson did drop his hands and move in the direction of a weapon inside the car prior to the shooting.

"No one has overruled court’s probable cause," said Judge Yamahiro. 

That probable cause found that Mensah had committed a crime following a series of hearings an Anderson family attorney held under a seldom-used state statute that allows a person to petition the court to issue a complaint if a district attorney refuses.

"Because we disagree doesn't mean we're done fighting," said Kimberley Motley, Anderson family attorney.

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Jay Anderson's mother was upset by the decision.

"It went back to Day 1 where they're covering for each other. That's all this is. It's a game," said Linda Anderson. 

The Anderson family has also filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Mensah that is still pending. 

Mensah joined the Wauwatosa Police Department in 2015. That year, he fatally shot Antonio Gonzales, who prosecutors said had refused to drop a sword. Mensah killed Anderson the following year. In 2020, he shot and killed 17-year-old Alvin Cole as Cole fled from police following a disturbance at a mall. Mensah said he fired because Cole pointed a gun at him. That shooting sparked months of protests.

In explaining his rationale for not charging Mensah in Cole’s death, Chisholm said evidence showed, among other things, that Cole fled from police carrying a stolen handgun, fired a shot while fleeing and refused police commands to drop the weapon.

Mensah is Black, as were Anderson and Cole. Gonzales identified as Native American.

Mensah resigned under pressure from the Wauwatosa Police Department in 2020 and joined the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department. 

Mensah's attorney issued this statement:

Facts matter. The hearing conducted by Attorney Kimberley Motley was one-sided and not complete. Officer Mensah was not able to present evidence, including video or expert testimony.  

Officer Mensah also was not able to cross-examine Attorney Motley’s witnesses and challenge the credibility of their opinions.  

The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and now Special Prosecutors Scott Hansen and Tim Greunke have cleared Officer Mensah of criminal liability.  

Officer Mensah wishes to thank the community, his friends, and family for their overwhelming support.

Reaction

Melinda Brennan, executive director of the ACLU of Wisconsin

"The decision not to prosecute former Wauwatosa Police Officer Joseph Mensah in the fatal shooting of 25-year-old Jay Anderson Jr. is reprehensible and reflects the systemic lack of accountability for police, who continue to kill and hurt Black and Brown people without legal consequences. In this case, Joseph Mensah, who remains a law enforcement officer in Wisconsin, was responsible for the deaths of three people in five years. Law enforcement has a long track record of resorting to deadly force when it isn’t necessary, especially against people of color."