Days following Alex Pretti\u2019s death, his family hired high-profile attorneys with direct ties to the prosecution of Derek Chauvin in<\/b>
\nDays following Alex Pretti\u2019s death, his family hired high-profile attorneys with direct ties to the prosecution of Derek Chauvin in the George Floyd case.
The parents of the 37-year-old intensive care nurse retained Steve Schleicher, a veteran litigator and former federal prosecutor. Schleicher helped Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison convict former police officer Chauvin for the death of Floyd. Schleicher, now a partner at the Minneapolis law firm Maslon, is representing Michael and Susan Pretti pro bono, a family spokesman confirmed, as reported by Newsweek.
Schleicher spent more than a decade in the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office for the District of Minnesota, where he handled cases ranging from murder to civil rights violations, and also served as a special prosecutor during the Chauvin trial. Before entering private practice, he acted as a state prosecutor and served as a reserve officer in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General\u2019s Corps.
Separately, Pretti\u2019s younger sister, Micayla Pretti, hired attorney Anthony Cotton of the Milwaukee firm Kuchler & Cotton, the family said, as reported by the Associated Press. A family spokesman said the attorneys were brought in to \u201cprotect the family\u2019s interests in the aftermath of this horrific tragedy.\u201d
Border Patrol agents shot and killed 37-year-old Pretti on Saturday during a confrontation as they carried out a targeted enforcement operation in Minneapolis. Following the incident, members of President Donald Trump\u2019s administration accused Pretti of being a domestic terrorist, an accusation Trump rejected when asked, saying he had not heard those claims and would not endorse them.
\u201cWell I haven\u2019t heard that. But certainly he shouldn\u2019t have been carrying a gun. And look, bottom line, everybody in this room, we view that as a very unfortunate incident, OK? Everyone, unless you\u2019re a stupid person. Very, very unfortunate incident,\u201d Trump said.
Meanwhile, the family of Renee Nicole Good, another Minneapolis resident fatally shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in early January, also retained high-profile legal representation. Good\u2019s family hired the Chicago-based firm Romanucci & Blandin \u2014 the same team that represented Floyd\u2019s family in their civil case \u2014 to investigate the circumstances of her death and pursue accountability.
(Featured Image Media Credit: Wikimedia Commons\/Public\/Fibonacci Blue, CC BY 4.0)<\/p>\n