A man from Minnesota was released from jail on Monday, December 11, after almost 20 years on a wrongful murder conviction, according to authorities. "I just want people to know that I am innocent. I was innocent from the very beginning," he told CNN.
The conviction of Marvin Haynes was overturned on Monday by Judge William Koch of Hennepin County, who ruled that the evidence presented in the case was unreliable and "constitutionally improper." In 2004, Haynes was found guilty of murder for his role in the shooting death of 55-year-old Harry "Randy" Sherer.
Witness identification was crucial to Haynes' conviction. He was just 16 years old when the murder occurred. Haynes' constitutional rights were infringed upon during his 2005 trial, according to a press release Monday from the Hennepin County Attorney's Office.
Freed From Prison
Haynes was granted freedom from the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater in Bayport, Minnesota, not long after his conviction was reversed. As the crowd erupted in excitement at Haynes' release, he made an appearance at the press conference with his loved ones, legal team, and Mary Moriarty, the Hennepin County Attorney.
According to USA Today, Haynes has stated his intention to acquire a job and see his mother, whom he has not seen in three or four years due to a stroke.
"I'm just appreciative to be here and people to recognize my innocence. All I want to do is move forward and just get my life back," he said.
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2004 Flower Shop Killing
In 2004, during a heist at a flower store in Minneapolis, Haynes was accused of shooting Sherer. Life in prison without the possibility of parole was his punishment after his 2005 conviction for first-degree murder and second-degree assault. Amy Klobuchar, the senior US senator from Minnesota, was the chief prosecutor for Hennepin County when he was convicted.
According to Judge Koch's ruling, Haynes' lawyers presented proof indicating the defendant did not fit the main eyewitness's physical description. He pointed out that the attacker he described was taller, heavier, and significantly older than Haynes, as reported by USA Today.
Moriarty said that the case's outcome had been dependent on the testimony of eyewitnesses. "There was no forensic evidence, such as fingerprints or DNA. There was no video connecting him to the crime. The murder weapon was never recovered. That should have made any prosecutor hesitant to bring charges because eyewitness identifications are often unreliable and one of the leading causes of wrongful convictions."
According to the Innocence Project, DNA testing often overturns erroneous convictions, the vast majority of which are the result of eyewitness misidentification. In almost 80% of its cases involving misidentification, the group has found indications of suggestive police methods.
The 2013 Department of Justice's first national examination of eyewitness identification standards found that almost four out of five US police departments lack codified protocols for managing identifications.
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