Lawyers for Karl Holmberg, the Glendorado man charged with attempted murder for his alleged shooting of five members of the Sherburne County Drug Task Force last October, recently filed several documents in Benton County District Court seeking to bolster their earlier motions to suppress evidence and dismiss the charges.

Holmberg faces 16 various felonies for his alleged conduct in the incident.

In four different filings dated July 16, Steve Bergeson, Assistant State Public Defender and Robert A. O’Malley, Assistant Seventh District Public Defender, petitioned the court and the presiding judge, the Honorable Robert A. Raupp, for a variety of relief on behalf of their client.

The first filing seeks to suppress the statement Holmberg provided from his hospital room to a pair of MN Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) agents on October 12.  According to the filing, there were procedural inadequacies in the Miranda warning provided by the officers.

The argument states: “The October 12, 2023 statement should be suppressed because the state cannot show by a preponderance of the evidence that it was knowing, intelligent, and voluntary.”

The filing further alleges a lack of evidence that Holmberg understood his rights, stating: “the officers ignored his medical condition; asked no questions about his conditions that might interrupt them; and interrogated him steadily and relentlessly. The remedy is suppression of Mr. Holmberg’s statement and the evidence derived thereof.”

A second filing asks for the charges to be dismissed for a lack of probable cause, arguing, in part:  

“there is no reliable evidence, just conjecture, that Mr. Holmberg knew who was in his house, the number of individuals in his home, their identities. More importantly, the record lacks any evidence that he knew the precise location of anyone on the other side of the door. Firing through a closed door with knowledge that others are in the vicinity may be careless or reckless or even indifferent, but it is not evidence of intent, assault, or intentionally attempted to cause death.”

Furthermore, the filing argues for a dismissal of of several counts as the injuries to the officers “fail to constitute great bodily harm.”

The next filing focuses on suppression of evidence obtained pursuant to the search warrants.  The argument cites the delay in the execution of the warrant (issued by the Benton County District Court on October 4 and then served on October 12) as a reason why the original probable cause had dissipated.  

Finally, the last filing argues that should the court find the original warrant to have been lawful, the police conduct on the day was unreasonable and violated the defendant’s rights under the U.S. Constitution.

The Patriot reached out for comment to the Office of the MN Attorney General, as they are handling the prosecution of the case.  John Stiles, Deputy Chief of Staff, declined to comment directly, noting that their answers to the motions will come when the office replies to them in court.  The Attorney General response is due on August 5.  

As of this week, no future court dates have been set in the case.