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Possible Minneapolis murder exoneration in the hands of Hennepin County judge

By FOX 9 Staff
Published  October 11, 2024 12:34pm CDT
Crime and Public Safety
FOX 9

Calls to vacate conviction in 2008 Mpls murder case

The Hennepin County Attorney's Office calls to vacate the murder conviction of Edgar Barrientos-Quintana. He was convicted in the murder of 18-year-old Jesse Mickelson back in 2008, and is currently serving a life sentence.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A man convicted of murder in 2009 for the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis teenager could be released after an evidentiary hearing was held on whether or not he was wrongfully convicted.

What we know

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty previously announced in September her support for the exoneration of 41-year-old Edgar Barrientos-Quintana, who was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of high school student Jesse Mickelson.

The Minnesota Conviction Review Unit (CRU) called for Barrientos-Quintana's conviction to be vacated back in July after a three-year investigation revealed evidence that was never presented to the jury and inaccurate information that was presented at trial. 

What's new?

After a short hearing, Hennepin County Judge John McBride said he is taking the matter under advisement and will issue a ruling at a later date. 

No specific date was announced. 

HCAO calls to vacate 2009 Minneapolis murder conviction

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty held a press conference calling to vacate the murder conviction of Edgar Barrientos-Quintana, who is currently serving a life sentence for the killing of Jesse Mickelson. The call comes after a lengthy report from the Minnesota Conviction Review Unit (CRU) that says that Barrientos-Quintana was wrongfully convicted.

Case background

Mickelson died in his neighbor's driveway after he was shot on Oct. 11, 2008, during a drive-by shooting. 

Investigators noted the case had similarities to gang-related drive-by shootings but did not believe Mickelson was the target or that he was a gang member. 

18-year-old Jesse Mickelson, who was shot to death in October 2008. (Supplied)

The trial reportedly relied on the account of two eyewitnesses who identified Barrientos-Quintana as the shooter. One of the witnesses also claimed to be in the car that the deadly shots were fired from. 

Barrientos-Quintana's defense argued he could not have been at the scene of the shooting, which happened just behind Roosevelt High School in south Minneapolis, as he was at a grocery store on the east side of St. Paul 33 minutes before the shooting. The defense also said it was a case of mistaken identity. 

The jury then took three days to deliberate and was reportedly split at one point, with three jurors favoring a not-guilty verdict, according to the CRU report. 

Barrientos-Quintana was ultimately found guilty of first-degree premeditated murder for the benefit of a gang in May 2009. 

What led to the call to vacate the conviction? 

The CRU conducted a three-year investigation, which led to an 181-page report that revealed evidence that was never presented to the jury during Barrientos-Quintana's trial, and inaccurate information was shown during the trial. 

The report alleges multiple issues with the conviction, including: 

  • No physical evidence tying Barrientos-Quintana to the case.
  • Barrientos-Quintana albi. Video shows him and his girlfriend at a Maplewood grocery store before the shooting, which was 33 minutes away from where the shooting happened. Phone records also show him at his girlfriend's home after the shooting, located 28 minutes away. During the CRU investigation, a former Minneapolis police sergeant drove that same route and deemed it "improbable, if not impossible" for Barrientos-Quintana to be the shooter.
  • Multiple witnesses named someone else as the shooter early in the investigation, with police reportedly "pressuring" them to instead identify Barrientos-Quintana as the shooter. One witness ultimately recanted his testimony.
  • Prosecutors allegedly elicited false police testimony that no one had identified someone else as the shooter.
  • Photo lineups that violated Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) protocols.
  • Eyewitnesses described the shooter as "shiny bald" or having a closely shaved head. The photo lineup showed a picture of Barrintos-Quintana with a shaved head, but at the time of the shooting, he had a full head of hair, as seen in the grocery store surveillance video that day.
  • Law enforcement allegedly threatened young witnesses with prosecution if they didn't identify Barrientos-Quintana as the shooter.
  • The prosecution failed to disclose evidence to the defense or didn't disclose it in time for it to be used in trial by the defense.
  • The prosecution was aware that the lead MPD investigator in the case went on the reality TV show "The First 48," which claims if detectives don't find a lead in the first 48 hours, their chances of solving it are cut in half. The MPD investigator made scripted comments on the show about the investigation. The episode about this case aired shortly before the trial. Prosecutors did not disclose this fact to the defense.

After the CRU released its report, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office (HCAO) conducted its own review of the case and agreed with the CRU's recommendation to vacate the conviction and dismiss the charges.