The civil rights attorney for the family of Ricky Cobb II sent a letter to the state seeking $25 million for Cobb’s death at the hands of a state trooper last summer, their attorney confirmed Wednesday.

But the attorney, Bakari Sellers, said that amount was a negotiation starting point and blamed someone on the state’s side of leaking the confidential letter sent last month. He said the leak is unfair to Cobb’s family.

“It’s unfortunate and it’s unprofessional. And this family doesn’t deserve that,” said Sellers, a lawyer from South Carolina who is representing the family with attorneys Harry Daniels and F. Clayton Tyler.

Cobb was killed during a traffic stop last July 31. Troopers attempted to remove him from his vehicle after learning he’d been accused of violating a domestic order for protection. As Cobb shifted the vehicle into drive and took his foot off the brake, the car lurched forward, dragging another trooper positioned at the driver’s side. Trooper Ryan Londregan fired twice from the passenger side, striking Cobb twice in the torso.

Sellers said he plans to file a civil suit on behalf of the family in the coming weeks alleging Londregan used excessive force.

“We sent a very long, lengthy demand based upon our legal theories. There’s an initial demand there, yes, and that was $25 million. But as you know how negotiations go, that was the starting point. Regardless, all those conversations pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are confidential.”

Asked who he believes leaked the letter sent to the Attorney General’s Office in February, he said “Either the State Patrol or the Attorney General’s Office. And regardless, if the State Patrol sent it out, it’s still the responsibility of the Attorney General’s office because that’s their client. So the buck stops with them.”

Request for comment from the State Patrol and Attorney General’s Office were not immediately returned.

Sellers said he found out about the leak Tuesday night.

“I haven’t seen something so unprofessional,” he said. “I try to be courteous and I try to be respectful to people … I feel like in the criminal process, the defense attorneys, the officer are trying to bully this family. I feel like now the attorney general’s office is trying to bully this family. And I’m not going to stand for that.”

Sellers declined to provide a copy of the letter to the Star Tribune, but confirmed its contents.

The letter was first obtained and reported by Alpha News, and then later by KARE 11.