Mistrial declared in civil trial of Joseph Mensah
Updated: Sept. 11, 2025
MILWAUKEE COUNTY, Wis. (CBS 58) -- After four days in Milwaukee's federal courthouse, the civil trial for former Wauwatosa police officer Joseph Mensah ended with a mistrial due to a hung jury.
It's the second time this has happened for the case, which was first tried last March,
The family of 17-year-old Alvin Cole wants prove Mensah used excessive force when he shot and killed Cole in the Mayfair mall parking lot in 2020. Mensah was never charged in the shooting.
The family was seeking a total of $9 million in compensatory and punitive damages.
The jury deliberated for a total of ten hours, starting Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. breaking for the night at 8:00 p.m., then resuming Thursday at 9:00 a.m.
Just before noon on Thursday, the eight-person jury told Judge Lynn Adelman they were hung up. The judge asked them not to give up yet, to re-examine evidence, and continue having meaningful, open conversations.
A couple hours later, the jury wrote a note to the judge asking to see additional pieces of evidence - three police officer interview reports by the Milwaukee Area Investigative Team (MAIT), and two forms of dash-cam video.
After some disputes with attorneys over which exhibits were properly admitted as evidence, Judge Adelman allowed the jury to see them.
It still was not enough to bring them to a verdict.
At 4:00 Thursday afternoon, the jury again said they could not come to a unanimous decision if Joseph Mensah acted unreasonably when he shot Alvin Cole on February 2nd, 2020.
Throughout the trial, several witnesses testified, including investigators, a mall security guard, three other police officers, and Mensah, himself.
After the mistrial, attorneys from both parties told reporters that they plan to try a third time.
"Emotional cases can produce kind of difficult decision-making. We continue to believe in the defenses we're presenting," said Mensah's attorney, Joseph Wirth.
Wirth and his partner, Attorney Jazmyne Baynard, said this trial moved quicker than the first time. They plan to reach out to jurors in the meantime with hopes to hear feedback.
Mensah declined to speak to reporters, Wirth said he heard from him after the trial.
"He's absolutely disappointed that we weren't able to obtain a verdict today," Wirth said. "As we know, he's no longer in law enforcement, and it weighs heavily on him."
Cole's mother told reporters outside the courthouse that she wasn't upset by the lack of verdict, after ten hours of deliberation.
"Basically, it's telling me that somebody saw that my son was killed for no reason," said Tracy Cole. "We're going to stand strong. We're going to still seek justice for my son."
The Cole family's lawyers said they felt confident in their case, repeating a line that was used in both opening and closing arguments: "In order for Joseph Mensah to be right, everyone else has to be wrong, period," said Attorney Nate Cade.
It's a reference to statements made by other officers on scene: Evan Olson, David Shamsi, Jeffrey Johnson, and security guard Davion Beard, all who said they did not see Cole move to point his gun at Mensah.
"There were three other officers that were at the scene that night that had the same training as Joseph Mensah, that had the same time as Joseph Mensah, and not one of them, not one fired their weapon one single time," said Attorney Kim Motley.
She also mentioned that Cole was the third person Mensah had fatally shot on duty in a five-year span on the Wauwatosa Police Department - a fact that wasn't allowed to be relayed to the jury.
The Milwaukee County District Attorney considered all three instances to be justified self-defense.
Cole's family sat in the courtroom gallery throughout the four-day trial, along with Mensah's wife and several current Wauwatosa police officers, who came in full uniform.
Mensah resigned from Wauwatosa Police Department in 2021 and went on to work for the Waukesha County Sheriff's Office as a detective. He resigned from that position in July.
The trial is scheduled to start again with a third jury on May 4, 2026.
Published: Sept. 11, 2025
MILWAUKEE COUNTY, Wis. (CBS 58) -- The civil trial involving former Wauwatosa police officer Joseph Mensah is now in the hands of the jury.
Deliberations began Wednesday evening and have been underway all morning Thursday. As of now, the jury is working through lunch.
The family of 17-year-old Alvin Cole is seeking monetary damages, hoping to prove Mensah used excessive force when he shot and killed Cole outside Mayfair Mall back in 2020.
Mensah's attorneys argue his use of force was reasonable, claiming Cole pointed a gun at him before Mensah fired.
Two other then-Wauwatosa police officers, David Shamsi and Jeffrey Johnson, testified Monday that they did not see Cole move or point his gun at Mensah.
The case first went to trial in March 2025 but ended in a mistrial with a hung jury.