‘The case cannot proceed.’ Criminal charges dismissed against Boise refugee shot by police

More than two years after the arrest, an Ada County judge has dismissed the criminal case against Mohamud Mkoma, a Somali refugee who was shot and injured by police after he allegedly kidnapped his 14-year-old son and brandished a knife at him.

The 35-year-old Boise resident was arrested in June 2021 and charged with six felonies and four misdemeanors, including three counts of lewd conduct, after authorities accused him of sexually abusing three children, though family members have previously denied the charges. Three Boise police officers fired 20 rounds at Mkoma and shot him five times during his arrest.

Mkoma’s criminal case was paused for over two years after he was declared mentally unfit to stand trial. After health officials failed to restore Mkoma’s competency, he was placed on a yearlong civil commitment in June 2022 at the State Hospital South in Blackfoot.

Fourth District Magistrate Judge Adam Kimball’s decision Monday to dismiss Mkoma’s charges came after the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare filed its notice of contemplated release in Bingham County, prompting the county to release Mkoma from the Blackfoot hospital in June. He was sent to the Ada County Jail, where he was being held on a $500,000 bond, until he was released this week.

Kimball said the court was at an “unusual intersection of laws,” and that he wasn’t clear whether the notice should have been filed in Ada or Bingham County, where Mkoma was residing. Regardless, Kimball said the fact that Mkoma was already released, and also still found mentally unfit to stand trial, left him with no choice but to dismiss the charges.

“We are in a situation where the case cannot proceed against Mr. Mkoma,” Kimball said.

Ada County prosecutors could refile some charges

Both the Health and Welfare and an independent evaluator concluded Mkoma’s mental competency couldn’t be restored. Virginia-based psychologist Brett Gardner submitted two reports to the court on his findings in the past week — which are sealed from the public, leaving the full extent of his findings unclear.

But Kimball said those findings don’t matter, since Health and Welfare already released him, leaving Kimball unable to do anything other than dismiss the charges.

Emily Lowe, spokesperson for the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office, told the Idaho Statesman that because Health and Welfare filed Mkoma’s civil commitment in Bingham County, the Ada County judge “did not have jurisdiction over the case.” Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Brett Judd said in court Monday that had Health and Welfare filed the commitment in Ada County instead of Bingham County, Kimball could have decided on Mkoma’s release and set any parameters regarding his release.

Judd added that the judge in Bingham County only oversaw Mkoma’s civil commitment and wasn’t aware of the criminal proceedings. Had the civil commitment been filed in Ada County, Kimball would have overseen both his commitment and criminal case.

Mkoma was diagnosed with schizophrenia about 10 years ago and also suffered from a stroke following the police shooting, which caused some neurological deficits, according to Mkoma’s family and attorney.

If Mkoma’s ability to assist in his defense improves, the prosecution could refile some of the criminal charges against him, Lowe told the Statesman by email. There is no statute of limitations on the lewd felony charges, but prosecutors are no longer able to charge Mkoma with the four misdemeanors. The deadline to pursue such charges is one year after they occur.

“There is no more action the state can take at this time,” Lowe said by email.

Body camera footage of shooting played in court

Kimball noted the “gravity” of the decision to release Mkoma. During the hearing, the prosecution presented evidence — including a roughly 45-second video of the police shooting — that had never been publicly released before.

Former Boise Police Det. Monte Iverson, who was called to the stand to testify for the prosecution, said the department was contacted after Mkoma — who wasn’t taking his medication — allegedly used a chair leg to open up a window and kidnap his then-14-year-old son. Officers searched for Mkoma, found his vehicle and began pursuing him.

In the body camera footage, a police car struck Mkoma’s car and stopped it, using what is commonly known as a pursuit intervention technique. At least three police cars surrounded Mkoma’s vehicle as officers got out of their vehicles and shouted commands at Mkoma.

“Show us your hands, show us your hands,” one officer said in the footage. “Do not move.”

An unidentified officer in the video acknowledged that Mkoma’s son was in the car and told the 14-year-old to get out. The officers proceeded to fire roughly 20 rounds at the vehicle before removing the child from the car.

Iverson, who now works as a part-time investigator for the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office, said police began investigating Mkoma before the June shooting because of allegations that Mkoma sexually abused three children.

The three children told a forensic interviewer with St. Luke’s Children at Risk Evaluation Services they’d been sexually abused, Iverson said. Judd said medical records substantiated the sexual assaults by showing that all three children were infected with chlamydia.

“Despite what are very concerning facts about the criminal conduct,” Kimball said, “I need to look at Mr. Mkoma where he sits now.”