Attorneys for Roberto Carlos Muñoz-Guatemala asked a federal judge on Friday to order prosecutors to turn over training records as well as investigative files related to Ross, the ICE agent who killed Good on Jan. 7 during Operation Metro Surge and was injured in a June 2025 incident in which Muñoz-Guatemala pulled him from his car.
A separate post-trial motion by the defense filed in U.S. District Court in Minnesota asks the judge to block the deadline for a new-trial motion until the discovery motion is resolved.
Muñoz-Guatemala’s lawyers argue that even if the court ultimately decides that any newly discovered evidence does not entitle their client to a new trial, he is entitled to find out whether there are mitigating factors that could affect the length of his sentence, such as whether Ross’s injuries might have been caused in part by his own behavior.
A jury convicted Muñoz-Guatemala on December 10 of assault with a dangerous weapon inflicting bodily injury on a federal officer.
Court filings said Ross and other agents were attempting to interview Munoz-Guatemala last summer, and possibly process him for deportation, because he had an administrative warrant for being in the country without authorization. They surrounded his Nissan Altima and tried to force him out of the vehicle. Ross then used a tool to break the rear driver’s side window before getting inside. When the defendant ran away quickly, Ross testified, he was dragged for about 100 yards, during which he repeatedly deployed the Taser. Munoz-Guatemala later called 911 to report he had been the victim of an attack.
During his trial, Muñoz-Guatemala said he did not understand that Ross – who according to his testimony was dressed in Ranger green and gray and wore his badge on his belt – was a federal agent. (Ross testified that Munoz-Guatemala had asked to speak to an attorney, suggesting he knew Ross was working as law enforcement, but an FBI agent who witnessed the incident said he did not hear it. According to court records, this claim did not come up in a pre-trial interview, and prosecutors said they had not heard it before making the claim in court.) Munoz-Guatemala’s attorney Now that he was prosecuted after Good’s murder, his defense may also claim that he was justified in confronting Ross, whom they claim was the aggressor and used excessive force.
The argument is that the jury instructions essentially included a two-part decision tree: jurors could convict Munoz-Guatemala if they felt they should have known Ross was impersonating law enforcement. They may also blame him if they feel that driving away is not an appropriate response.
Munoz-Guatemala’s conviction does not indicate which of these factors the jury relied upon. If it was the latter, the defense argued in the motion, the court should have access to evidence that might have a bearing on Ross’s conduct, tactics and whether he behaved aggressively — information that could indicate whether the agent had a history of behaving recklessly in the field or contrary to his training.
Prosecutors have not yet filed a response to the petitions. An email to the address linked to Ross in publicly available records did not immediately elicit a response. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to questions about Ross’ current duty status or the status of any departmental review.
Ross has been placed on administrative leave following the Jan. 7 shooting of Good, a 37-year-old Minnesota poet and mother of three, a move DHS officials say is standard protocol after a deadly use of force. Ross has not been charged with Good’s murder, and the Justice Department has said it will not pursue criminal charges.
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