Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty concluded after reviewing the case records that Haynes was innocent and his prosecution was a “terrible injustice.”
BAYPORT, Minn. (AP) — A 35-year-old man who was
Moriarty noted that one of the lead investigators in the original case, retired Minneapolis Police Lt. Michael Keefe, testified during a recent evidentiary hearing that he objected to the lineup procedures at the time but was overruled.
During the hearing, Haynes maintained his innocence and four of his sisters testified he was asleep at home shortly before the killing.
Attorney Andrew Markquart, of the Great North Innocence Project, thanked Moriarty and her office for taking a serious look at the evidence and agreeing that Haynes’ conviction could not stand. He welcomed that Haynes will now get to spend “a very merry Christmas” with his family.
“This is someone who has every right in the world to be bitter, to be angry,” Markquart said. ”But he’s not. And then he carries himself with this remarkable sense of hope and positivity that is so admirable.”
It’s “well established that subjecting witnesses to multiple viewings of a suspect risks tainting the identification,” the Innocence Project noted.
At the time of Haynes’ conviction, the county attorney was Amy Klobuchar, who is now Minnesota’s senior U.S. senator. Moriarty, who was formerly the county’s chief public defender, said she was “deeply sorry” for all the opportunities Haynes missed while he spent more than half his life in prison.
“The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office bears responsibility for taking almost 20 years away from Marvin Haynes and his family,” Moriarty said. “We have deeply devoted professionals in this office. We’re committed to doing the right thing every day. And doing the right thing sometimes means we must seek to undo the harms of the past and not defend them. And that is what we have tried to do today.”
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The post Marvin Haynes, imprisoned at 16 for murder, released after judge overturns conviction appeared first on TheGrio.
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