Defense for fired Rochester-area police officer Shane Roper asks for charges to be dismissed

ROCHESTER – The defense of Shane Roper, the former state trooper charged for his role in a crash that killed Owatonna Teen Olivia Flowershas asked the court to dismiss eight of the nine charges against him.

In a motion filed Oct. 24, Roper’s attorneys said the state “has not met its burden of offering direct evidence tending to show that (Roper’s) actions (or negligence) were the proximate cause of death or bodily harm.”

Roper, 32 years old, faces nine criminal charges related to the May 18 crash, including felony charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminal vehicular homicide. Both charges carry maximum sentences of 10 years in prison.

The only charge the defense did not ask to be dismissed is misdemeanor reckless driving, which carries a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail.

Among the other requests made to the court, Roper’s defense asked for a change of venue outside of Olmsted County, citing extensive media coverage of the case. The defense said that “the juries have surely been tainted and you cannot have a fair trial” in the county.

Roper’s attorney, Eric Nelson of Halberg Criminal Defense, also argued that any evidence related to Roper’s prior traffic or speeding incidents should be excluded as evidence in the case.

In the five years prior to the accident, Roper had been disciplined by the State Patrol in four different occasions for careless or reckless driving, including an accident in February 2019 that injured another officer.

District Judge Christa Daily has not responded to the motions. Roper is scheduled to return to court on Nov. 21 for a pretrial settlement conference.