Rewritten Article: Defense Seeks ICE Officer Records Tied to Fatal Shooting After Assault Conviction
Legal defense counsel for a Minnesota man found guilty in December of assaulting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Jonathan Ross is pushing for full access to investigative records tied to the killing of Renee Nicole Good, after uncovering that Ross is the same officer who shot and killed Good during a targeted operation in Minneapolis last month.
Last Friday, attorneys representing Roberto Carlos Muñoz-Guatemala formally asked a federal judge to compel prosecutors to turn over both training records and full investigative documents related to Ross. Ross is the ICE agent who fatally shot Good on January 7 as part of Operation Metro Surge, and he was also injured in a June 2025 altercation where Muñoz-Guatemala dragged him with his vehicle.
A separate post-trial motion submitted by the defense team to the U.S. District Court of Minnesota asks the judge to suspend all deadlines for a new trial motion until the request for access to these sealed records is resolved.
Muñoz-Guatemala’s legal team argues that even if the court ultimately rules newly uncovered evidence does not qualify their client for a retrial, he still has a right to investigate potential mitigating factors that could alter the length of his sentence. One key question the team aims to explore is whether Ross’ 2025 injuries could have been partially brought on by Ross’ own conduct.
A jury convicted Muñoz-Guatemala on December 10 on two charges: assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon, and inflicting bodily injury on the officer.
Court filings lay out the original sequence of events from last summer: Ross and other agents planned to interview Muñoz-Guatemala, and potentially process him for deportation, because an administrative warrant was active for his unauthorized presence in the United States. Agents surrounded his Nissan Altima and attempted to remove him from the vehicle. Ross then used a tool to shatter the rear driver’s side window before reaching inside the car. When Muñoz-Guatemala accelerated away, Ross testified he was dragged roughly 100 yards, and repeatedly deployed his taser during the incident. Muñoz-Guatemala later called 911 to report he had been the victim of an assault.
During his trial, Muñoz-Guatemala claimed he did not understand that Ross was a federal agent; Ross testified he was dressed in ranger green and gray clothing, with his badge clipped to his belt. Ross also told the court Muñoz-Guatemala had asked to speak to an attorney — a comment that would imply Muñoz-Guatemala knew Ross was acting as law enforcement — but an FBI agent who witnessed the 2025 incident said he never heard that exchange. According to court records, this claim was never raised during pretrial interviews, and prosecutors had never heard the assertion before it was brought up in open court. Now, Muñoz-Guatemala’s attorneys argue that if his trial had been held after Good’s killing, their defense would have additionally asserted Muñoz-Guatemala was justified in resisting Ross, who they frame as the aggressor who used excessive force during the 2025 stop.
The defense explains that the jury instructions given in the original trial boiled down to a two-part decision framework: Jurors could convict Muñoz-Guatemala if they believed he should have known Ross was a law enforcement officer, or they could convict if they believed driving away was not a reasonable response to the situation.
Muñoz-Guatemala’s conviction does not specify which of the two prongs the jury relied on to reach its guilty verdict. If the conviction was based on the second prong (whether driving away was reasonable), the defense argues, the court must have access to evidence that could shed light on Ross’ conduct, operational tactics, and pattern of aggressive behavior. This includes information that could show whether Ross has a history of reckless conduct in the field or acting outside of his official training guidelines.
Prosecutors have not yet filed a formal response to the defense’s motions. An email sent to a contact address linked to Ross in public records did not receive an immediate reply. The U.S. Department of Justice also did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) declined to immediately answer questions about Ross’ current duty status and the progress of any internal department review.
After the January 7 shooting of Good, a 37-year-old Minnesota poet and mother of three, Ross was placed on administrative leave. DHS officials confirm this is standard protocol following a fatal use of force incident. Ross has not been criminally charged in Good’s death, and the Department of Justice has announced it will not pursue criminal charges against him in connection with the killing.
