The Great North Innocence Project (GNIP) announced today that their client Marvin Haynes will be released from the Minnesota Correction Facility – Stillwater after spending nearly 20 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. GNIP will hold a press conference with the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office (HCAO) and the Haynes family about the matter today at noon at the Hennepin County Government Center.
The Court granted Mr. Haynes’ Petition for Post-Conviction Relief based on the claim that he was denied his right to due process because his conviction relied on constitutionally defective eyewitness evidence.
In an order signed by Hennepin County District Court Judge William H. Koch, the Court held “that absent introduction of the unconstitutional eyewitness identification evidence, it is doubtful there would have been sufficient evidence to sustain a conviction.” The HCAO agreed to vacate Mr. Haynes’ conviction after a November evidentiary hearing during which GNIP attorneys presented evidence showing that the identification procedures used to convict Mr. Haynes were inconsistent with best practices and unnecessarily suggestive.
The State agreed that “the interests of justice would be served by dismissing with prejudice all charges.” In the order, Judge Koch also noted that “there was no physical evidence linking [Mr. Haynes] to the crime scene.”
Mr. Haynes was just 16 years old when he was charged with first-degree murder in a robbery turned homicide at a North Minneapolis flower shop in 2004.
Managing attorney Andrew Markquart led Mr. Haynes’ legal team, which included GNIP legal fellow Anna McGinn, pro bono attorney and GNIP Board member Jazz Hampton of TurnSignl, GNIP volunteer Sydney Dobbs, former University of Minnesota legal intern Trish Palermo, and many other law students and interns over the years. Former GNIP legal director
Mr. Haynes’ family never wavered in their support for Mr. Haynes or in their belief in his innocence and are thrilled to welcome him home. They hope that his case will inspire change to improve the justice system more broadly. In particular, his sisters Lakisha, Sherita, Marvina, Marquita, and Cynthia have been vocal advocates for his exoneration.
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View full press release here