Local authorities still have jurisdiction to file chargespublished at 19:40 GMT 8 January
Grace Eliza Goodwin
Live reporter
As we reported earlier, local Minnesota authorities say they've been cut out of the FBI's investigation into ICE's fatal shooting of Renee Good.
After initially agreeing to a joint investigation with Minnesota's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), the FBI then "reversed course" and said it would not be giving the BCA access to case materials and evidence, BCA superintendent Drew Evans said earlier in a statement.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem argues that local authorities do not have jurisdiction over the case.
"From a criminological perspective, jurisdictional claims in cases like this are often less about legal requirements and more about political efforts to control the investigation and shape its outcome," Edward Maguire, a criminology and criminal justice professor at Arizona State University, told the BBC.
And, Maguire added, excluding state authorities is "likely to undermine public trust, especially where confidence in federal law enforcement—particularly ICE—is already fragile".
But, while BCA not being involved in the investigation "certainly can impact the investigation itself, it doesn't necessarily mean that the state could not file criminal charges later" against the federal officer who fatally shot Good, said Bryna Godar, a staff attorney with the State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin Law School.
Both state prosecutors and federal prosecutors have the jurisdiction to bring charges if a crime was committed at the state or federal level, Godar told the BBC.
Whether state prosecutors are able to file charges against the officer "depends on what happens from here", Godar said.
If the FBI conducts a complete and thorough investigation into the incident and, once complete, then turns over the full investigative file to state officials, then state and county prosecutors can decide whether to file charges, Godar said.
"If that file is not turned over, or if the investigation is not thorough, especially regarding aspects of the state law crimes, then that would present significant hurdles to bringing a criminal case" at the state level, Godar said.
And if state charges led to the conviction of a federal officer for state-level crimes, then President Trump cannot issue a pardon, Godar added.