Deshaun Hill killing: Defense wants retrial moved out of Hennepin County

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Cody Fohrenkam’s legal team is arguing to move his retrial in the 2022 murder of Minneapolis North High School standout student-athlete Deshaun Hill, Jr. out of Hennepin County, citing overwhelming, prejudicial media coverage of the case.

New trial for Cody Fohrenkam

What we know:

Cody Fohrenkam’s legal team has filed a change of venue motion to move the upcoming murder retrial in the deadly shooting of Deshaun Hill, Jr. out of Hennepin County. They argue Fohrenkam cannot get a fair trial in Minneapolis given the overwhelming and "prejudicial" news coverage of the case.

Additionally, defense attorneys argue that "inflammatory" comments made by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office have likely tainted the local jury pool since Fohrenkam’s second-degree murder conviction and 38-and-a-half-year prison sentence was tossed out on appeal.

The killing of Deshaun Hill

The backstory:

Hill, a standout student-athlete at Minneapolis North High School was shot and killed by a lone gunman on February 9, 2022. Neighborhood surveillance video captured Hill, in a walking boot from a prior injury, brushing past the shooter several blocks from the North High campus in the middle of the day.

At the time, authorities said the two were close enough to "possibly brush shoulders." The shooter then appeared to pause, turn and fire three shots before running away. Cody Fohrenkam was subsequently arrested, charged, and convicted of Hill’s murder. A judge called Forhenkam's actions "senseless" before sentencing him to nearly 40 years in prison.

But last year, the Minnesota Court of Appeals tossed out Fohrenkam’s conviction after finding his constitutional rights were violated at trial in part, because of the prosecution’s use of a videotaped police interview conducted by detectives in the days following the slaying.

The Court of Appeals found Fohrenkam was illegally detained on a separate matter by authorities in Carlton County, who continued to hold him until Minneapolis investigators could arrive and question him about the deadly shooting. The jury watched the full 19-minute interrogation during the trial before taking less than an hour to convict.

The court ruled in part, "The state has failed to satisfy its burden of showing that Fohrenkam’s continued detention was lawful. And because Fohrenkam made his incriminating statements during this period of continued detention—which the state never justified by presenting evidence explaining the basis for such conduct—Fohrenkam’s statements must be suppressed as the product of an unlawful seizure."

Once his statements were deemed inadmissible, the Court of Appeals found the now 33-year-old was entitled to a new trial. 

What's next:

Despite the Court of Appeals ruling, lead prosecutor Dan Allard still wants to use the videotaped interrogation at Fohrenkam’s upcoming retrial on the same murder charges. Allard believes the state can establish Fohrenkam was legally held in custody leading up to his MPD interview and has provided the court with a sworn affidavit from one of the detectives who questioned Fohrenkam in Carlton County.

Fohrenkam’s legal team, though, argues that the police interview should not be allowed to be shown to a second jury and, so far, Hennepin County District Court Judge Julie Allyn has agreed.

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office is now asking the Court of Appeals to step in once again to prompt Judge Allyn to reconsider her rulings, writing in part that the "post-Miranda interview has a critical impact on the State’s ability to prosecute (Fohrenkam) for murder."

Prosecutors add the video is needed at trial to impeach the defendant as the interview captures Fohrenkam changing his story and alibi while being questioned. The state also wants to use the video to identify Fohrenkam as the shooter seen on neighborhood surveillance camera footage. They wrote in their most recent appeal that if the police interview is kept out at trial, it "significantly reduces the likelihood of a successful prosecution."

Both sides are expected back in court for a March 21 hearing. Fohrenkam’s retrial is currently scheduled to get underway on April 28. It is unclear when the higher court will rule on Hennepin County’s appeal which could delay any trial in the case.