Star Tribune
Man exonerated of murder is among featured speakers at Thursday book club event
There is a video on YouTube that shows a 16-year-old Marvin Haynes, tucked into an oversized shirt, shivering as Minneapolis police officers ask him if he’s been involved in the murder of Harry “Randy” Sherer at a local flower shop in 2005.
“I ain’t did nothing, man,” he says as an officer removes his handcuffs.
“Marvin,” the officer says, “if I were you, I wouldn’t let someone else speak for me. … This is your one and only chance to straighten it out.”
“I ain’t did nothing,” Haynes repeats.
“So you’re telling me you’re a cold-blooded killer?” the officer asks.
On Thursday, Haynes — who was recently released after his wrongful conviction for a murder he did not commit — will tell his story as part of the Mary Ann Key Book Club’s community discussion about Anthony Ray Hinton’s book, “The Sun Does Shine,” at Minneapolis Central Library at 6:30 p.m. Hinton, who served more than 30 years on death row for a crime he did not commit, has a story that’s familiar to Haynes, who spent his entire twenties and most of his thirties in prison.
Although he had rehearsed this opportunity to finally tell his story, he still gets nervous, he said, about opening up and discussing the most difficult chapter of his life.
“Every time I talk about it,” he said, “I just get emotional.”
I told him that’s OK.
In that interrogation video, you can see he’s just a kid. Confused. Concerned. Scared. And then, he asks for help, help that never comes, help that he’s denied before a legal entanglement that would change his life forever.
“I want to have my mom down here,” he says.
That moment demonstrated the irreparable harm Minnesota’s justice system imposed upon a teenager whose family told police he had been home when the murder occurred. He also didn’t fit the description of the assailant.
“Almost twenty years ago, a terrible injustice occurred when the state prosecuted Marvin Haynes,” Mary Moriarty, the Hennepin County District Attorney, said in a statement in December. “We inflicted harm on Mr. Haynes and his family, and also on Harry Sherer, the victim, his family, and the community. We cannot undo the trauma experienced by those impacted by this prosecution, but today we have taken a step toward righting this wrong.”
On Thursday, Haynes will join other Minnesotans who can also relate to the impact of an unfair justice system. Minister Ja’Nae Bates is the co-director at ISAIAH and her husband is currently incarcerated. Moseka Nhya is a staff member at All Square, “a nonprofit social enterprise that channels wealth and power to those impacted by mass incarceration” and a woman who has also been impacted by the American justice system. And Kevin Reese started Until We Are All Free, a human rights organization for formerly incarcerated individuals, after he served a 14-year stint in prison.
I was nervous to call Haynes for the first time a few weeks ago. I had not seen him since I was a Star Tribune reporting intern in the courtroom on the day he was convicted in 2005. He had read my story, where I quoted him telling the jury, “You all are going to burn in hell for this!”
“That was you?” he asked when we finally spoke.
“Yeah, man,” I told him. “That was me.”
I thought about including in this column a bunch of quotes from my conversation with Haynes, but I’d rather give him and the rest of the panel the floor to tell their own stories in their own words.
For those who have been impacted by the American justice system, they’re often overlooked while they’re incarcerated and after they’re released. Hinton spent more than three decades in prison for a murder he didn’t commit but he never received a dollar from the state of Alabama.
“Man, you spoiled it for me,” Haynes, disappointed, told me when I mentioned that to him because he hadn’t finished the book at the time.
But he could relate to Hinton’s stories. I hate that he can relate to Hinton’s stories. But he can.
There’s a fine line between fostering education and exploiting someone’s pain. So I made Haynes a promise about Thursday’s discussion, which I’ll be moderating.
“If you need to cry, if you need a break, if you need to pause, you can do that,” I told him.
I ask the folks who attend Thursday’s panel to help me fulfill that promise.
When Haynes and the other panelists tell their stories, please hold space for them to be whoever they want to be and need to be on that stage. Give them room. Let them breathe.
I always wished I could have done more to help Haynes after I covered the verdict nearly 20 years ago. I hope Thursday is another opportunity for him to see that people in his community care about his experience and the journey that will continue now that he’s free.
“It’s a full circle moment,” he said.
Air raid warnings blared for hours as Russia targeted eight regions of Ukraine on Wednesday, firing six ballistic and cruise missiles and 90 drones, the Ukrainian air force said.
Air defenses downed four missiles and 37 drones, and another 47 drones were stopped by electronic jamming, the statement said. The damage was being assessed.
Meanwhile, most of the more than 10,000 North Korean troops sent by Pyongyang to help Moscow in the war are engaged in combat in Russia’s Kursk border region, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters Tuesday. A Ukrainian army incursion into Kursk three months ago has succeeded in holding a broad area of land and has embarrassed the Kremlin.
Russia’s military has trained the North Korean soldiers in artillery, drone skills and basic infantry operations, including trench clearing, Patel said. The cooperation faces challenges, including how to achieve military interoperability and overcoming the language barrier, he said.
Kyiv officials say that Russia has deployed around 50,000 troops to Kursk in a bid to dislodge the Ukrainians.
Russia has in recent months been assembling forces for a counteroffensive in Kursk, according to the Institute for the Study of War think tank, though the timescale of the operation isn’t known.
Star Tribune
Special counsel Smith asks court to pause appeal seeking to revive Trump’s classified documents case
WASHINGTON — Special counsel Jack Smith asked a court Wednesday to pause prosecutors’ appeal seeking to revive the classified documents case against President-elect Donald Trump in light of the Republican’s presidential victory.
Smith’s team has been evaluating how to wind down the classified documents and the federal 2020 election interference case in Washington before Trump takes office because of longstanding Justice Department policy that says sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted.
The case accusing Trump of hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate had been seen as the most legally clear-cut of the four indictments against Trump, given the breadth of evidence that prosecutors say they had accumulated. That included the testimony of close aides and former lawyers, and because the conduct at issue occurred after Trump left the White House in 2021 and lost the powers of the presidency.
But U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case in July, ruling that Smith was illegally appointed by the Justice Department. Smith had appealed her ruling to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals before Trump’s presidential win last week over Vice President Kamala Harris.
Prosecutors asked the 11th Circuit in a court filing Wednesday to pause the appeal to ”afford the Government time to assess this unprecedented circumstance and determine the appropriate course going forward consistent with Department of Justice policy.” Smith’s team said it would ”inform the Court of the result of its deliberations” no later than Dec. 2.
The judge overseeing the federal case in Washington accusing Trump of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election canceled all upcoming deadlines in the case last week after Smith’s team made a similar request.
Smith is expected to leave his post before Trump takes office, but special counsels are expected to produce reports on their work that historically are made public, and it remains unclear when such a document might be released.
First, they must live in St. Paul. Then, their incomes must be no more than 400% of current Federal Poverty Guidelines — about $120,000/year for a family of four — or their medical debt must be 5% or more of their annual income. Also, only debt owed to participating providers like hospitals will qualify for the program.
“Health is not only about buildings, hospitals, or clinics — health care is about meeting the needs of patients where they are and doing whatever we can to improve health outcomes and decrease cost,” Fairview Health Services President and CEO James Hereford said in a statement.
Undue Medical Debt CEO and President Allison Sesso also issued a statement, which read, in part: “Medical debt is a psychological burden, in addition to a financial one, that can cause patients to avoid necessary care.”
She added: “Simply having medical debt creates stress which undermines people’s health.”
Officials said national medical debt has reached about $220 billion and affects more than 100 million Americans. About 54% of insured adults carry medical debt, officials said, while 41% of people without insurance face even greater challenges, often delaying necessary care in order to pay for food and housing.
In Minnesota, the Medical Debt Fairness Act that recently went into effect bans medical debt from being reported to credit reporting agencies. It also ensures medical providers cannot withhold medical care despite unpaid debt. St. Paul and Undue Medical Debt officials said they hope to partner with the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office to explore ways to build on the Debt Fairness Act.
