Wisconsin judge finds probable cause to charge police officer in fatal shooting

A Wisconsin judge finds probable cause to charge police officer Joseph Mensah, who was previously cleared by a district attorney in a fatal shooting.

A judge announced Wednesday that he has found probable cause to bring homicide charges against a Wisconsin police officer, five years after a local district attorney declared the officer was justified in his use of deadly force on a man he found sleeping in a car in a suburban Milwaukee park. Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Glenn Yamahiro said at a hearing that there is probable cause that former Wauwatosa police officer Joseph Mensah committed the crime of homicide by negligent handling of a dangerous weapon when he killed 25-year-old Jay Anderson Jr. in 2016. "This decision has not been taken lightly, nor was it predetermined. It is the result of a careful and extensive review of the evidence in this case," Yamahiro said. Yamahiro came to his conclusion after holding a rarely used "John Doe hearing," which provides a forum and a procedure in Wisconsin for a citizen to ask a court to review a district attorney’s decision not to issue criminal charges in cases where the citizen believes one or more crimes have occurred.