A new office in Hennepin County will soon be able to review, and possibly overturn, past convictions.
The new Sentence Integrity Unit will look into cases where innocent people have been convicted or where there have been errors in the judicial process.
“Our criminal legal system is fallible,” said Hennepin County District Attorney Mary Moriarty. “We know the system fails at times. People make mistakes and people are convicted of crimes they did not commit or suffer other miscarriages of justice.”
Moriarty announced Monday that attorney Andrew Markquart will lead the office. Markquart has investigated wrongful convictions with the Great Northern Innocence Project.
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Markquart said the office will help correct mistakes made by prosecutors in the past.
“If someone is in prison for a crime they did not commit, that is an intolerable offense against that individual, against their family, against their community,” Marquart said.
Marquardt most recently represented Marvin Haynes, whose 2004 murder conviction was overturned last December. He was convicted on faulty eyewitness testimony, with no physical evidence linking him to the murder he allegedly committed.
After Haynes was released, Moriarty named a Conviction Integrity Unit as a possible reform that could help people like Haynes.
On Monday, Haynes said he was glad to see the unit moving forward.
“This is an opportunity for the prosecution to take another look at cases like mine, where the system gets it wrong, and to make things right, because my case is not unique,” Haynes said.
Since leaving prison, he said, he has been working and spending time with his family. He recently moved into his own apartment. But in the 20 years since his conviction, he has missed out on many opportunities and time with his loved ones.
“If something like this had existed years ago, maybe justice would have been obtained sooner,” Haynes said.
A similar Conviction Review Unit in the Minnesota Attorney General’s office reviews cases across the state, but Moriarty said the county will benefit from having its own unit. It will take a workload off the state office, he said.
Markquart said the bar for relief from this unit will be high.
“It’s no small matter to overturn a conviction after a jury of your peers has found someone guilty,” Markquart said. “That’s not something I take lightly.”
The Conviction Integrity Unit is still understaffed. Moriarty said he will ask the county board for more funding. In the future, he plans to staff the office more.
Once operational, individuals will be able to apply for reconsideration of their convictions through the Hennepin County Attorney’s website.
