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Marvin Haynes seeks $2M for wrongful incarceration
Haynes was 16 when convicted of killing Minneapolis flower shop owner Harry Sherer. He was released from prison in 2023 after his conviction was tossed out.
MINNEAPOLIS — A man who spent nearly 20 years behind bars is asking the state of Minnesota for $2 million to make up for that lost time after his murder conviction was vacated.
Marvin Haynes and his attorneys filed a claim with the Minnesota State Supreme Court on Nov. 7, maintaining he was wrongfully arrested, convicted and incarcerated in 2005 for a murder he did not commit. He was just 16 years old at the time he was convicted.
Haynes was exonerated and released from prison in Dec. 2023, meaning he spent more than 19 years imprisoned for a crime both Haynes and the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office say he did not commit. On the day it was announced that Haynes would be released, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty apologized to him, saying his civil rights were violated in the 2005 trial and that securing his freedom would be “a step toward righting this wrong.”
“It is not easy to admit and correct our wrongs but it is necessary,” Moriarty said in a news conference. “To Marvin Haynes: You lost the opportunity to graduate from high school, to attend prom, have relationships, attend weddings and funerals and spend time with your family around the holidays. I’m so deeply sorry for that.”
In his claim for damages, Haynes and his legal team note that on Sept. 12, 2024, the Hennepin County District Court issued an order finding that Haynes is eligible for compensation. His attorneys say state statutes dictate that Haynes is entitled to damages “of not less than $50,000 for each year of incarceration” and additional monies based on economic damages, medical expenses, physical or non-physical injuries or sickness resulting from his incarceration plus expenses for education, housing and transportation as he tries to rebuild his life.
“His noneconomic damages include, but are not limited to, nearly 20 years of loss of liberty, past and future severe mental anguish, emotional distress and psychological damage; loss of familial relationships; loss of reputation; physical pain and suffering; humiliation, indignities and embarrassment; permanent loss of natural psychological development; and loss of enjoyment of life as a result of restrictions on all forms of personal freedom including diet, sleep, personal contact, personal fulfillment, sexual activity, family relations, reading, television, movies, travel, enjoyment and expression,” his attorneys asserted in the claim.
Based on those alleged damages, Marvin Haynes is asking the State of Minnesota for $100,000 for each year of his incarceration, a total of nearly $2 million.
Haynes was convicted in Sept. 2005 for the murder of 55-year-old Harry “Randy” Sherer, the owner of a flower shop in north Minneapolis. After a jury found Haynes guilty, he reportedly said out loud in the courtroom, “I didn’t kill that man!”
“Marvin has proclaimed his innocence since day one,” said his sister Marvina Haynes said in Nov. 2023 as the effort to overturn Haynes’ murder conviction reached its conclusion. “There’s nothing linking Marvin to the crime scene. The evidence — they don’t have any.”
The Minneapolis-based Great North Innocence Project led Haynes’ legal challenge for post-conviction relief, arguing in court filings that the original trial relied on “false evidence” from witnesses and “constitutionally defective eyewitness identification evidence.”
Haynes’ attorneys claim that important eyewitness testimony in the case “should have been suppressed because it was the result of highly suggestive identification techniques and was wholly unreliable.” There was no physical evidence linking Haynes to the murder.
Police and prosecutors who worked the case still believe Marvin Haynes was the person who killed Harry Sherer. Former Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Mike Furnstahl, who served as the lead prosecutor during the 2005 trial, said suggestions of Haynes’ innocence are “really a joke.”
“The reason this case is coming back now is not because there’s substantial and compelling evidence that Marvin Haynes is innocent, but rather because political winds are blowing in his favor,” said Furnstahl, who was also the prosecutor in the Myon Burrell case.
“If the judge grants the petition for post-conviction relief, I would make sure the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office files an appeal on it. I wouldn’t let them just stand by and let this guy walk out of prison. Because [Haynes] murdered that man. There was no question in my mind. There was no question in the jurors’ minds.”
Democratic Representative Brad Rabke leads Republican challenger Aaron Paul by only 14 votes in Shakopee’s District 54A race.
SHAKOPEE, Minn. — A recount has officially been requested for the closest election in any Minnesota legislative district this cycle after the Scott County Canvassing Board certified the election results Wednesday afternoon. Democratic Representative Brad Rabke leads Republican challenger Aaron Paul by only 14 votes in Shakopee’s District 54A race.
This Scott County Canvassing Board meeting garnered a lot of attention not only because of how close the 54A race is, but because of 20 ballots in Shakopee precinct 10, that would directly impact the 54A race.
“We had 329 people check in to absentee vote, we received 309 ballots back,” said Scott County election official Julie Hanson.
Hanson says they will continue to audit and investigate the situation, but at the end of the day, the canvassing board’s job is to certify the ballots that they have received. Now that results have been certified by the county canvassing board, they will be sent to the Secretary of States Office to be certified there on Nov. 21.
“This is the system working the way it’s supposed to work,” said Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon. “The public and the political parties and the candidates can look and see and touch and feel and ask questions, and that’s exactly what we want.”
The state will cover the recount since the margin of victory is lower than .5%. That recount of 22,000 ballots will begin also on Nov. 21.
“There’s high degrees of transparency, and high degrees in terms of security in this process here,” said Hamline University Political Science Professor David Schultz.
Although Schultz feels recounts are important, he acknowledges they don’t have a history of actually changing the outcome.
With Democrats and Republicans tied at 67 seats a piece in the State House, if the recount were to flip the district 54A race in Republican Aaron Paul’s favor, it would change the entire balance of power in the State Legislature.
The House District 14B race is Sherburne County is also headed for a recount. Democratic incumbent Dan Wolgamott leads Republican Sue Ek by 191 votes. Due to an issue with results on election night, Sherburne County says they will cover the cost and hand recount the voters so there is complete transparency.
Two sessions will be held this week to allow residents to ask questions about a 4-year police and city reform plan released in September.
MINNEAPOLIS — In March last year, the City of Minneapolis and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights reached a court-enforceable agreement to reform city and police conduct after investigators found both entities engaged in practices violating the Minnesota Human Rights Act.
Effective Law Enforcement For All was selected to oversee the consent decree as an independent body in February this year, and in September released a nearly 90-page, 4-year plan on police cameras, trainings, how reports are taken and other policy changes.
ELEFA president David Douglass says the nonprofit organization will host two sessions this week to bring community up to speed on the plan. The first is set to begin at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Sabathani Community Center.
The second session will be held 6 p.m. Thursday at North Community High School.
“We also want to explain how we do what we do … and how to engage the Minneapolis community in this process because that was central to the agreement,” Douglass told KARE 11 ahead of the meeting. “Perhaps most important, our goal is to promote understanding so we want to hear back and have plenty of time for people to ask their questions.”
Douglass says ELEFA will issue a semiannual report in the coming weeks and will hold another community session in four months.
This all stems from George Floyd‘s murder, and a similar settlement is pending with the U.S. Department of Justice after its investigators found city and police conduct violated the constitution and federal law. Both parties agreed to resolve the findings through a court-enforceable consent decree with an independent monitor.
But former President Trump opposed federal consent decrees in his first term, calling them “a war on police,” and terminating one in Chicago. It’s unclear what will happen in his second term, but Minneapolis is still promising reform.
The Office of Community Safety sent the following statement in response to KARE 11 inquiry:
“While negotiations with the Department of Justice have continued without pause, tonight’s community engagement session hosted by ELEFA is their first opportunity to talk with the people of Minneapolis since their selection as the Independent Evaluator for the MDHR settlement agreement and the release of their Evaluation Plan. This engagement goes to highlight the work well underway to implement the Settlement Agreement with the State. City leadership has been and will remain committed to reforming policing in Minneapolis and building a more just, equitable approach to community safety – regardless of who sits in the White House.”
-Commissioner Todd Barnette, Office of Community Safety
The Minnesota Department of Human Rights shared a similar message:
“The state consent decree between the Minnesota Department of Human Rights and the City of Minneapolis and Minneapolis Police Department is here to stay regardless of what happens at the federal level.”
-Spokesperson, Minnesota Department of Human Rights
Community members say the tight results reflect changing opinions in their communities.
MINNESOTA, USA — Scott County certified the election results in a very close race in Shakopee, where incumbent democrat Brad Tabke beat Republican Aaron Paul by just 14 votes.
Paul has officially requested a recount in 54A, and now that process will begin.
That race is one of two Minnesota House races headed for recounts.
“It’s been up and down,” Paul said. “We’re preparing.”
The razor-thin margin falls within the threshold for an automatic recount under state law.
“I think people are just waiting to see what happens,” said Shakopee resident Collin Duff.
Duff says a lot of folks at Turtle’s Bar and Grill have been talking about it.
“I think everybody is tired of the way the world’s running, and we have to, we have to do it slowly,” said patron, Kathy Hoffman, who said these results show her community is looking for change
Meanwhile, in District 14B, DFL Rep. Dan Wolgamott now leads Republican Sue Ek by 191 votes after initial confusion on election night.
At one point, unofficial results showed Ek winning by four votes. Wolgamott later led by 28.
Sherburne County officials attributed the discrepancy to a memory card malfunction, but said no votes were lost or found. The county plans to conduct a hand recount at its own expense.
“There’s a huge effort to be sure that the votes counted were accurate, because it makes a big difference,” Ek said.
If current results hold, the Minnesota House would be evenly split between DFL and Republican members.
Buddy King, a District 14B resident, says the tight races reflect the state’s changing demographics,
“I’m not just talking racially, but just socially, economically, everything is growing,” King said. “And so I think what we’re seeing is the results of that.”
King’s wife, Keshia Anderson-King, hopes the DFL maintains its lead, citing concerns about education and support for LGBTQ and immigrant communities.
“Whether it be DFL or Republic, I just want it to be for the people,” she said.
