Judge Vacates 2005 Murder Conviction Of Minneapolis Man

STILLWATER, MN — A 35-year-old Minneapolis man who was sentenced to life in prison as a teenager will be released Monday after a Hennepin County judge agreed to vacate his conviction.

On Sep. 2, 2005, Marvin Haynes was found guilty of first-degree murder in the robbery and shooting death of 55-year-old clerk Randy Sherer at a north Minneapolis flower shop.

Prosecutors charged Haynes and he was convicted by a jury despite no forensic evidence, such as fingerprints or DNA. There was no video connecting him to the shooting and the murder weapon was never recovered.

One witness later recanted his testimony. Additionally, Haynes’ lawyers found problems with the police's use of an old photo of him during the investigation.

"Mr. Haynes’ conviction rested almost exclusively on eyewitness identification," said Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, whose office agreed that Haynes had proven his Constitutional rights were violated during his trial.

Moriarty said the lack of physical evidence should have made prosecutors at the time hesitant to bring charges because eyewitness identifications "are often unreliable and one of the leading causes of wrongful convictions," noting that nationally, nearly 28 percent of exonerations involve eyewitness identification.

"To Marvin Haynes: You lost the opportunity to graduate from high school, attend prom, have relationships, attend weddings and funerals, and be with your family during holidays. For that, I am so deeply sorry. And for that, I commit to correcting other injustices and to making sure that we do not participate in making our own."