Hennepin County Attorney seeks to vacate man's 2009 murder conviction
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced in a Monday press conference her office supports the exoneration of a man who was convicted of murdering an 18-year-old man more than a decade ago.
The call to vacate his conviction comes after a report from the Minnesota Attorney General's Conviction Review Unit (CRU), which states 41-year-old Edgar Barrientos-Quintana was wrongfully convicted for the murder of high school student Jesse Mickelson.
Barrientos-Quintana was convicted in 2009 for the murder, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
READ MORE: MN Conviction Review Unit: 2009 Minneapolis murder conviction should be vacated
Background
18-year-old Jesse Mickelson, who was shot to death in October 2008 (FOX 9).
Mickelson died in his neighbor's driveway after he was shot on Oct. 11, 2008, after 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.
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 was ultimately found guilty of first-degree premeditated murder for the benefit of a gang in May 2009.
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 the Minnesota Conviction Review Unit (CRU) that says that Barrientos-Quintana was wrongfully convicted.
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 their report, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office (HCAO) conducted their own review of the case, and agreed with the CRU's recommendation to vacate the conviction and dismiss the charges.
What's next?
Now that HCAO has agreed with the CRU's report, a judge will now decide whether to vacate the conviction. If the courts decide to vacate, HCAO will dismiss the charges.
What they're saying
"We are hopeful that the court will give Mr. Barrientos-Quintana the relief we believe he deserves," Moriarty said in the press conference. "But this is a sad day, all around. Our legal system failed Mr. Barrientos-Quintana. Our legal system also failed Jesse's family, who, almost 16 years later, must wonder who killed their loved one."